BIRD INCIDENTS. 



Wrens versus Sparrows : Some time 

 since in the early spring, a pair of Eng- 

 lish Sparrows made up their minds to 

 take possession of a bird house in our gar- 

 den which a pair of Wrens had occupied 

 for two previous years. 



Mr. and Mrs. Wren had not yet arrived, 

 so there was none to dispute the spar- 

 rows' right or suspend operations. All 

 went well and the nest was nearing com- 

 pletion, when one bright sunny morning, 

 the former occupants arrived on the 

 scene and trouble at once began. They 

 evidently resented the action of the spar- 

 rows in taking the house which they an- 

 ticipated using for a summer residence. 

 An indictment of evacuation was at once 

 served and being met by a show of spar- 

 row impudence, forcible expulsion was 

 next in order. 



Mr. Wren took up his position on the 

 front porch of the little house, and by a 

 series of savage attacks and much loud 

 scolding, succeeded in keeping the pair 

 of sparrows off, while Mrs. Wren, work- 

 ing with desperate determination, pro- 

 ceeded to tear the nest apart and carrying 

 the materials out the little back door, 

 scattered them in all directions. My! 

 what a shower of hay, straw, feathers, 

 sticks, etc. This was continued until the 

 house was entirely cleared. Then, with- 

 out delay, began the process of recon- 

 struction. During this time the spar- 

 rows did not sit idly by and see their 

 work destroyed, but there was a continu- 

 ous battle between them, and when the 

 action became too pressing, both Wrens 

 would make a grand charge which invari- 

 ably resulted in driving the enemy back. 

 By and by the new nest was finished, and 

 although bad feeling existed for several 

 days afterward, with frequent passages 

 at arms, the sparrows finally gave up the 

 fight as hopeless, and Mr. Wren mounted 



the chimney, standing guard, and at~the 

 same time giving vent to his feelings in 

 loud and spirited song. Of course, our 

 sympathies were with the victors. 



Cat Bird and Cherry Stone: During 

 one of my many rambles through the 

 woods, I discovered the nest of a Cat 

 Bird in a thick clump of briars and upon 

 drawing near found it contained four lit- 

 tle ones. Retreating for a short distance, 

 I stopped and watched the mother bird 

 who was greatly excited at first, but see- 

 ing that I meant no harm to her little 

 family, she proceeded with household 

 matters. 



After giving the young ones two or 

 three worms and other choice morsels, 

 she brought a good-size red cherry and 

 offered it to one of the nestlings. The 

 little bird could not swallow it, so what 

 did the mother do but take the cherry 

 out of its mouth, remove the stone with 

 her beak and feet, and then give it back 

 to the nestling in a crushed state. This 

 time it disappeared in a trice. The in- 

 cident impressed me as being not only 

 amusing but an excellent illustration of 

 "bird sense." 



Chippies Dividing Crumbs: While 

 sitting under a shade tree in the yard, I 

 observed a pair of Chippies eating two 

 crumbs of bread. One crumb was much 

 larger than the other, and of course the 

 bird having the smaller one finished first. 

 Then what ! Simply this, the other Chip- 

 py at once broke his crumb in half and 

 proceeded to place a portion of it within 

 reach of his mate. In this way each had 

 nearly an equal amount. Beautiful in- 

 cident ; well might man take this lesson 

 home to himself; what an exhibition of 

 love and generosity ; what a different 

 world this would be if people acted more 

 on the principle of these innocent little 

 birds ! 



Berton Mercer. 



