﻿190 
  

  

  AMERICAN 
  HOMES 
  AND 
  GARDENS 
  

  

  May, 
  1907 
  

  

  Testing 
  the 
  Courage 
  of 
  a 
  Bobolink 
  

  

  By 
  Ned 
  Dearborn 
  

  

  W 
  HE 
  most 
  fundamental 
  instinct 
  in 
  the 
  entire 
  

   animal 
  kingdom 
  is 
  parental 
  devotion. 
  It 
  is 
  

   not 
  surprising, 
  therefore, 
  that 
  nothing 
  kin- 
  

   dles 
  our 
  admiration 
  more 
  quickly 
  or 
  excites 
  

   our 
  sympathies 
  more 
  profoundly 
  than 
  the 
  

   cares 
  and 
  distresses 
  incident 
  to 
  the 
  rearing 
  

   of 
  young. 
  Nevertheless, 
  a 
  private 
  interest 
  sometimes 
  induces 
  

   one 
  to 
  turn 
  this 
  inherent 
  trait 
  to 
  his 
  own 
  advantage. 
  Many 
  

   an 
  animal 
  has 
  faced 
  and 
  met 
  death 
  while 
  protecting 
  its 
  

   progeny. 
  Hunters 
  make 
  the 
  capture 
  of 
  their 
  quarry 
  certain 
  

   when 
  they 
  discover 
  its 
  young. 
  The 
  deplorable 
  slaughter 
  of 
  

   white 
  herons, 
  which 
  has 
  almost 
  exterminated 
  those 
  beautiful 
  

   birds 
  in 
  our 
  country, 
  is 
  an 
  example 
  of 
  this 
  sort 
  of 
  hunting. 
  

   How 
  the 
  heronies 
  were 
  invaded, 
  how 
  the 
  birds 
  were 
  shot 
  

   down 
  by 
  untold 
  thousands 
  at 
  these 
  breeding 
  places, 
  how 
  the 
  

   young 
  egrets 
  starved 
  in 
  consequence 
  — 
  the 
  whole 
  brutal 
  story 
  

   has 
  been 
  so 
  widely 
  rehearsed 
  by 
  friends 
  of 
  birds 
  that 
  Amer- 
  

   ican 
  women 
  have 
  renounced 
  the 
  beautiful 
  aigrette 
  out 
  of 
  

   sheer 
  horror 
  and 
  indignation. 
  

  

  The 
  plume 
  hunters 
  have 
  turned 
  their 
  energies 
  into 
  other 
  

   channels 
  and 
  left 
  the 
  haunts 
  of 
  birds 
  to 
  those 
  who 
  study 
  

   them, 
  and 
  confessedly 
  bother 
  them, 
  but 
  who 
  by 
  gentle 
  meas- 
  

   ures 
  allay 
  their 
  fears, 
  gain 
  their 
  confidence 
  and 
  learn 
  their 
  

   secrets. 
  After 
  an 
  observer 
  has 
  watched 
  them 
  at 
  arm's 
  length 
  

   and 
  seen 
  with 
  what 
  patience, 
  thoroughness 
  and 
  fidelity 
  they 
  

   attend 
  to 
  their 
  natural 
  duties, 
  he 
  finds 
  his 
  conceptions 
  of 
  bird- 
  

   life 
  vastly 
  broadened. 
  He 
  witnesses 
  many 
  things 
  he 
  never 
  

   dreamed 
  of. 
  He 
  gets 
  at 
  their 
  instincts 
  and 
  their 
  nervous 
  

   qualities 
  in 
  a 
  new 
  light, 
  which 
  delights 
  and 
  fascinates 
  and 
  

   instructs 
  him. 
  He 
  sees 
  exemplified 
  so 
  many 
  of 
  his 
  own 
  best 
  

   traits, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  surprising 
  that 
  his 
  imagination 
  sometimes 
  

  

  outruns 
  nature 
  and 
  gives 
  to 
  the 
  birds 
  of 
  popular 
  literature 
  

   human 
  qualities 
  which 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  field 
  do 
  not 
  possess. 
  

  

  The 
  accompanying 
  illustrations 
  depict 
  as 
  real 
  a 
  hero 
  as 
  was 
  

   ever 
  embodied. 
  He 
  endured 
  what 
  appeared 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  very 
  

   grave 
  peril 
  that 
  his 
  children 
  might 
  not 
  suffer 
  from 
  hunger. 
  

   Parental 
  instinct 
  impelled 
  him 
  to 
  feed 
  those 
  young 
  birds 
  on 
  

   the 
  day 
  they 
  hatched 
  from 
  the 
  shell, 
  but 
  if 
  on 
  that 
  day 
  or 
  the 
  

   next, 
  a 
  tent 
  had 
  been 
  pitched 
  within 
  twenty 
  inches 
  of 
  the 
  nest, 
  

   it 
  is 
  altogether 
  probable 
  that 
  fear 
  of 
  it 
  would 
  have 
  caused 
  

   both 
  of 
  the 
  parents 
  to 
  desert 
  their 
  home 
  and 
  leave 
  their 
  young 
  

   to 
  die. 
  But 
  as 
  their 
  nestlings 
  grew, 
  so 
  increased 
  their 
  affec- 
  

   tion, 
  yet 
  not 
  equally 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  sexes, 
  for 
  even 
  at 
  the 
  climax 
  

   of 
  parental 
  devotion, 
  which 
  occurs 
  when 
  the 
  young 
  birds 
  are 
  

   ready 
  to 
  fly, 
  the 
  timid 
  mother, 
  in 
  the 
  hour 
  of 
  trial, 
  lacked 
  

   courage 
  to 
  come 
  and 
  feed 
  them. 
  But 
  not 
  so 
  with 
  her 
  mate. 
  

   The 
  making 
  of 
  these 
  pictures 
  was 
  incidental 
  to 
  a 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  

   food 
  habits 
  of 
  bobolinks 
  — 
  one 
  of 
  many 
  similar 
  studies 
  with 
  

   different 
  kinds 
  of 
  birds, 
  all 
  of 
  which 
  depended 
  for 
  their 
  suc- 
  

   cess 
  on 
  the 
  power 
  of 
  parental 
  solicitude 
  to 
  overcome 
  an 
  ordi- 
  

   narily 
  prevailing 
  fear. 
  

  

  The 
  usual 
  course 
  of 
  events 
  in 
  these 
  investigations 
  consists 
  

   in 
  pitching 
  a 
  small 
  tent 
  so 
  close 
  to 
  a 
  bird's 
  nest 
  that 
  every 
  act 
  

   within 
  it 
  can 
  be 
  distinctly 
  seen 
  by 
  the 
  observer 
  stationed 
  

   within. 
  In 
  this 
  instance 
  the 
  nest 
  was 
  deserted 
  by 
  the 
  young 
  

   bobolinks 
  a 
  few 
  hours 
  before 
  operations 
  began, 
  so 
  the 
  prob- 
  

   lem 
  was 
  somewhat 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  common 
  run. 
  As 
  the 
  prover- 
  

   bial 
  recipe 
  for 
  rabbit-stew 
  begins 
  with 
  catching 
  the 
  rabbit, 
  

   so 
  here 
  the 
  capture 
  of 
  the 
  little 
  birds 
  was 
  first 
  in 
  order. 
  The 
  

   tent 
  was 
  erected 
  near 
  the 
  deserted 
  nest 
  — 
  an 
  intrusion 
  which 
  

   worried 
  both 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  bobolinks 
  very 
  much. 
  As 
  soon 
  as 
  

   the 
  author 
  of 
  their 
  anxiety 
  disappeared 
  inside 
  his 
  tent, 
  they 
  

  

  V 
  - 
  

  

  y 
  

  

  The 
  Male 
  Bobolink 
  Brought 
  Soft-bodied 
  Grasshoppers 
  and 
  Katydids 
  

  

  

  Appetite 
  Was 
  a 
  Good 
  Instructor 
  

  

  