2 8 IN BIRD LAND. 



some workmen were erecting a new college building. 

 In May a very fierce snow-storm came. One day 

 the workmen noticed a half-dozen robins darting 

 about the nest on which the hatching bird sat, flying 

 at her with sharp cries, striking her with their wings, 

 and making use of various other devices to dislodge 

 her from the nest. They seemed to realize that she 

 was in peril of her life through long inactivity and 

 exposure to the cold. But their efforts were unsuc- 

 cessful : she would not leave her nest ; her eggs or 

 young must have her care at whatever cost. How- 

 ever, the poor bird' paid dearly for her devotion. 

 The next morning — the night had been very cold 

 — the workmen found her dead upon the nest. 

 My informant vouches for the truthfulness of the 

 story, and says that he himself saw the faithful 

 mother on the nest after she had been frozen stiff. 



On the twentieth of April I saw another robin 

 sitting close on her nest, which was built on a 

 horizontal branch of a willow-tree, not more than 

 eight feet from the ground. The raw east wind 

 lifted the feathers on her back, as if determined to 

 creep through her thick clothing to the sensitive 

 skin. A few days earlier a blue jay was seen carry- 

 ing lumber to her partly erected nursery in the 

 crotch of an oak-tree. A pair of bluebirds, sigh- 

 ing out their sorrows and joys, began building in 

 one of my bird-boxes during the pleasant early April 

 weather ; but when the cold spell came, they wisely 

 suspended operations until the storms were overpast 

 and they could proceed with safety. A killdeer 



