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At another time while engaged in white-washing 

 some pales, on a clear day, a wasp alighted on the 

 fence near by and to my surprise began to scratch or 

 chew little particles of wood from the fence with its 

 jaws. When a little bundle of this was collected, it 

 proceeded to roll it into a ball then carried it away 

 between its feet. Very soon it returned and gathered 

 another ball of fibers, and in this way continued for 

 some time, coming and going with great perseverance. 

 It was of course building a nest in the vicinity and 

 using the little balls of woody fiber in its construction. 



On another occasion I saw two young robins being 

 fed by their mother. One of the babies seemed to un- 

 derstand better than the other and succeeded in obtain- 

 ing a number of things for itself. But the most in- 

 teresting part was, it also gave some to its little com- 

 panion in the same manner that the old bird does, 

 thus satisfying its own wants and also helping to feed 

 its nestmate. So we see how the young watch andim- 

 itate their parents. At the same time that the above 

 happened, a chipmunk (ground squirrel) came down the 

 trunk of the tree, on seeing it the robin gave chase. 

 It was very amusing to see them tearing around the 

 tree's stem in a rapid manner. The bird was doubtless 

 very angry, while the squirrel was in the height of 

 its glory, and was exultant in having the best advan- 

 tage, because he could travel around the trank while 

 the bird had to flutter in the air. Birds and squirrels 

 sometimes have severe contests, but the latter are sure 

 to take it as a matter of fun. 



While sitting in the shade of an apple tree, prepar- 

 ing some wild grass for coloring, I heard the sound of 



