- with plants and make them sanctuaries for bird life? They 
- would then provide material for nature study that might ~ 
| lead city people away to the peace and pleasures of a country 
life. 
A home in West Seattle has recently had a sad, yet 
delightful, experience with a family of Western Bluebirds. 
Desiring bird neighbors the owners built and put in place a 
bird house to rent. It was soon inspected and liked by a lady 2 
bluebird, who had difficulty in getting her mate to take 
possession of the new residence. He coaxed her away after 
he looked it over, but she succeeded in getting him to return 
and to watch her carry in the furniture, such as it was, | 
although he refused to help her settle in any way. 
He was kind, however, during the weeks in which the = 
eggs were laid and brooded, for he brought her many big 
mouthfuls of luckless insects, sometimes singing for her his | 
feeble little song. Their nearest neighbors rejoiced when 
-. they heard the sctauics and chirps that told them that there 
were many mouths to be fed in the bird house. 
These neighbors say that the little ones were about | | 
three days old when they saw a struggle between their blue- 
birds and a robber hand of English sparrows that finally 
_ drove the former away. As night settled down, after some 
hours of waiting for the return of the renters of the box, a. 
ladder helped the man and woman to look into what had been 
ahome. Now it contained only a destroyed nest and five 
almost naked baby birds thrown about on the floor of the 
_ box. The tiny bits of gray down on the heads of the young- 
lings gave little warmth and they were Seared dead from 
cold and hunger. | 
A woman-made nest of soft cotton was ‘cuieily furnish- 
ed, and the little family was being carried to the warming 
- oven when the man whistled, and every head stretched up 
: and every mouth flew open. This suggested a way to feed 
them, and a pair of steel tweezers was used to break off bits 
of egg an and cottage cheese which were sais tat into the 
96 
