100 WAKE-ROBIN 
that Audubon had made a mistake in figuring or 
describing the female of this species with the red 
spot upon the head. I have seen a number of pairs 
of them, and in no instance have I seen the mother- 
bird marked with red. 
The male was in full plumage, and I reluctantly 
‘shot him for a specimen, Passing by the place 
, again next day, I paused a moment to note how 
matters stood. I confess it was not without some 
compunctions that I heard the cries of the young 
birds, and saw the widowed mother, her cares now 
doubled, hastening to and fro in the solitary woods. 
She would occasionally pause expectantly on the 
trunk of a tree and utter a loud call. 
It usually happens, when the male of any species 
oe killed during the breeding season, that the female 
} soon procures another mate. There are, most likely, 
always a few unmated birds of both sexes within 
a given range, and through these the broken links 
may be restored. Audubon or Wilson, I forget 
which, tells of a pair of fish hawks, or ospreys, that 
built their nest in an ancient oak. The male was 
so zealous in the defense of the young that it ac- 
tually attacked with beak and claw a person who 
attempted to climb into his nest, putting his face 
and eyes in great jeopardy. Arming himself with 
a heavy club, the climber felled the gallant bird to 
the ground and killed him. In the course of a few 
days the female had procured another mate. But 
naturally enough the stepfather showed none of the 
‘ spirit and pluck in defense of the brood that had 
