102 WAKE-ROBIN 
in a most spiteful manner. He followed her to the 
ground, poured into her ear a fine, half-suppressed 
warble, offered her a worm, flew back to the tree 
again with a great spread of plumage, hopped around 
her on the branches, chirruped, chattered, flew gal- 
lantly at an intruder, and was back in an instant at 
her side. No use, —she cut him short at every 
turn. 
The dénowement I cannot relate, as the artful 
bird, followed by her ardent suitor, soon flew away 
‘ beyond my sight. It may not be rash to conclude, 
however, that she held out no longer than was pru- 
; dent. 
On the whole, there seems to be a system of 
Women’s Rights prevailing among the birds, which, 
contemplated from the standpoint of the male, is 
quite admirable. In almost all cases of joint inter- 
est, the female bird is the most active. She deter- 
‘mines the site of the nest, and is usually the most 
absorbed in its construction. Generally, she is more 
vigilant in caring for the young, and manifests the 
most concern when danger threatens. Hour after 
hour I have seen the mother of a brood of blue 
grosbeaks pass from the nearest meadow to the tree 
that held her nest, with a cricket or grasshopper in 
her bill, while her better-dressed half was singing 
serenely on a distant tree or pursuing his pleasure 
amid the branches. 
Yet among the majority of our song-birds the 
male is most conspicuous both by his color and 
manners and by his song, and is to that extent a 
