704 
or destroy her tender young, and she 
immediately sets outin quest of a male, 
who is no laggard when he hears her 
call, The same is true of ducks and 
other aquatic fowls. The propagating 
instinct is strong, and surmounts all 
ordinary difficulties. No doubt the 
widowhood I had caused in the case 
of the woodpeckers was of short du- 
ration, and chance brought, or the 
widow drummed up, some forlorn 
male, who was not dismayed by the 
prospect of having a large family of 
half-grown birds on his hands at the 
outset. 
I have seen a fine cock robin paying 
assiduous addresses to a female bird, as 
late as the middle of July ; and I have 
no doubt that his intentions were hon- 
orable. I watched the pair for half 
an hour. The hen, I took it, was in 
the market for the second time that 
season, but the cock, from his, bright, 
unfaded plumage, looked like a new 
arrival. The hen resented every ad- 
vance of the male. In vain he strut- 
ted around her and displayed his fine 
feathers ; every now and then she would 
make at him in the most spiteful man- 
ner. He followed her to the ground, 
poured into her ear a fine half-sup- 
pressed warble, offered her a worm, 
flew back to the tree again with a great 
spread of plumage, hopped around her 
on the branches, chirruped, chattered, 
flew gallantly at an intruder, and was 
back in an instant at her side. Nouse, 
— she cut him short at every turn. 
The dnouwement I cannot relate,~as 
the artful bird, followed by her ardent 
suitor, soon flew away beyond my sight. 
It may not be rash to conclude, however, 
that she held out no longer than was 
prudent. 
On the whole, there seems to be a 
system of Waqmen’s Rights prevailing 
among the birds, which, contemplated 
from the standpoint of the male, is 
quite admirable. In almost all cases of 
joint interest, the female bird is the 
most active. She determines the site 
of the nest, and is usually the most 
absorbed in its construction. General- 
ly, she is more vigilant in caring for the 
Bird’ s-Nests. 
[June, 
young, and manifests the most concern 
when danger threatens. Hour after 
hour I have seen the mother of a 
brood of blue grossbeaks pass from the 
nearest meadow to the tree that held 
her nest, with a cricket or grasshopper 
in her bill, while her better-dressed 
half was singing serenely on a distant 
tree, or pursuing his pleasure amid the 
branches. 
Yet the male is most conspicuous 
both by his color and manners and by 
his song, and is to that extent a shield 
to the female. It is thought that the 
female is humbler clad for her better 
concealment during incubation. But 
this is not satisfactory, as in most cases 
she is relieved from time to time by the 
male. In the case of the domestic dove, 
for instance, promptly at midday the 
cock is found upon the nest. I should 
sooner say that the dull or neutral tints 
of the female were a provision of nature 
for her greater safety at all times, as her 
life is far more precious to the species 
than that of the male. The indispen- 
sable office of the male reduces itself 
to little more than a moment of time, 
while that of his mate extends over 
days and weeks, if not months. 
In migrating northward, the males 
precede the females by eight or ten days ; 
returning in the fall, the females and 
young precede the males by about the 
same time. 
After the woodpeckers have aban- 
doned their nests, or rather chambers, 
which they do after the first season, 
their cousins, the nuthatches, chicka- 
dees, and brown creepers, fall heir to 
them. These birds, especially the creep- 
ers and nuthatches, have many of the 
habits of the picide, but lack their 
powers of bill, and so are unable to 
excavate a nest for themselves. Their 
habitation, therefore, is always second- 
hand. But each species carries in 
some soft material of various kinds, or, 
in other words, furnishes the tenement 
to its liking. The chickadee arranges 
in the bottom of the cavity a little mat 
ofa light felt-like substance, which looks 
as if itcame from the hatter’s, but which 
is probably the work of numerous 
