SOME BIRDS 



wild creatures learn that you will not harm them, 

 and how willing they are to be friendly. In the 

 past season one pair built a nest on the porch 

 roof, just under the overhanging eaves of the 

 house, and so close to a window that one could 

 reach out and touch the nest. They take posses- 

 sion of the woodshed even, and more than one 

 nest has been built therein. 



One year a pair raised two broods in a nest 

 built on a window-sill, and one could stand inside 

 the room and watch the mother at her work. A 

 few little firs were planted last spring close beside 

 the studio, and though they were scarce two feet 

 in height, a robin built her nest in the branches 

 of one and reared her brood successfully. The 

 robin lays four eggs, but I have never yet seen 

 the mother with more than three young, and two 

 is the usual number, though a single youngster 

 is frequently seen. A pair will rear two broods 

 in the same nest in one season, but I have never 

 known a nest to be occupied a second year. This 

 is not so strange, for the robin naturally wants 

 a clean nest to start with, and evidently prefers 

 to build a new home rather than clean up the 

 old one. Many people manage housekeeping 

 in much the same way. They are always moving 



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