May, 1907 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



191 



His Black and White Nuptial Suit Was Already 

 Being Replaced by One of Gray 



became quiet; but they made him wait with one eye at a peep- 

 hole for thirty minutes before feeding a single birdling. 

 The spot where the first young bird was located was carefully 

 noted and approached at once, yet so closely did his colors 

 blend with those of the newly mown stubble about him that 



The Tent Had Ceased to 

 Worry Him 



it was only after a diligent scrutiny of the place that he was 

 discovered. Forty-five minutes later a second little captive 

 was added to the first. Both were now put into a cage which 

 was placed on the ground about a rod from the tent. 



At first the old birds were in great distress, the male in his 

 excitement frequently breaking out with snatches of song, 

 although it was then so late in the summer that his normal 

 season of song was a month passed, and his black and white 

 nuptial suit was already being replaced by one of sober gray. 

 Agitated humans not un frequently say and do things out of 

 season. In a little while they settled down on some tall 

 weeds that stood near by and silently awaited developments. 

 After a time they disappeared, presumably resigned to the 

 new state of affairs, for the cage had been out only eighteen 

 minutes when the old male was seen approaching it with a 

 grasshopper crosswise in his bill. He was plainly afraid of 

 the cage, and no wonder, yet his desire to feed his babies 

 gradually got the better of his fear, and each round brought 

 him a little nearer. It was most interesting to watch his 

 movements while subjected to these conflicting impulses. Ap- 

 proach and retreat, approach and retreat, over and over 

 again. In two minutes the struggle was ended. Devotion 

 conquered. He had to push his grasshopper between the 

 wires several times before the little ones discovered that they 

 also must come up to the wires if they were to receive food. 

 But appetite was a good instructor and they soon learned 

 what to do. When the grasshopper had been duly delivered 



and swallowed, the old bird fell to pecking violently at the 

 wires in an attempt to get them out of his way. He was no 

 longer afraid of the cage. Another grasshopper was brought 

 almost immediately. Again the old bird fought the cage, 

 fought it to his satisfaction, for he never afterward ques- 

 tioned its resistance. 



Subsequently he came and went with perfect freedom, re- 

 gardless of the fact that during each absence the cage was 

 brought a little nearer the tent, and ultimately rested within 

 twenty inches of it. The tent had ceased to worry him, how- 

 ever, and even prior to this time he had formed the habit of 

 alighting upon its ridge pole whenever he returned from a 

 trip to the meadows. He evidently considered the tough red- 

 legged locusts, which were common about the tent, improper 

 food for young stomachs, for he always left this locality on 

 his foraging trips and brought soft-bodied meadow grass- 

 hoppers and katydids from distant points. The mother bird 

 brought grasshoppers, too, but her fear was never sufficiently 

 reduced for her quite to reach the cage. There were other 

 birdlings still at large, and to these she presently devoted her 

 entire attention. In other similar tests with bobolinks it inva- 

 riably has been the male who came to feed the little ones. 

 Females of other species of birds are often braver than their 

 mates. At nightfall the cage was covered with a cloth and 

 taken to a neighboring house for safety. Shortly after sun- 

 rise the following morning it was carried back to the tent. 



The Male's Apprehension Shown by the Convulsive 

 Movements of the Wings and Tail 



The devoted father recognized it at a distance and came out 

 to meet it singing as if at his wedding. 



As the cage had become commonplace to him by this time. 



He Crept Up to It 



it was decideci to give his courage a severe trial. After all 

 concerned had breakfasted, the young birds were transferred 

 to a tin-pail set in a hole in the ground so that its rim was 



