for 190mg @hoerbem
My Bluebirds
BY LAWRENCE F. LOVE. Cleveland. 0. (Aged 11. years.’
NE day in February, I put up three bird-boxes, two large ones and 0 one small one, hoping that a Wren would take the small box. Soon I saw some Bluebirds, Of course I began to watch them to
find where they were going to nest First they began to build in a hole in an old apple tree, but the Sparrows seemed to think it belonged to them and they gathered in great numbers to drive the Bluebirds away. A kind Robin helped them to defend it, but in the end the Sparrows conquered, and my bluecoats began to look around for a new nesting place. They tried one of the houses, but did not seem satisfied with it, Finally, one Sunday morning near the middle of April, I saw the dull-bluish female carrying straw to the box nearest the house. Even there the Sparrows troubled them, but the Bluebirds drove them off. One day when the eggs were laid the Juncos joined with the Sparrows in an attack. It is impos- sible to say which side was defeated, but the Sparrows bothered the Blue birds but little afterward. On lVIay 14, the young ones came out of the nest. There were five. Three were brownish on the back, with a little blue on the tail. Their breasts were grayish, spotted with brown. The other two had more blue about the head and back; I think these two were males. One of these was the first to fly, and he flew to the ground besides a porch, where a dog stood looking down on him. I put him into the nest, but he flew out again, and got into the lower branches of a tree. One of the others flew into another tree, and the others soon followed. Then a venturesome one flew, but was stopped by a house. After resting on a window sill for a moment, his mother coaxed him into a tree. In the meanwhile, the rest had flown, and for a while the old birds were busy teaching them to fly well. Then the little ones roosted in the top of a high apple tree. The next morning the parents were engaged in feeding them, and such appetites! The one that first flew was the weakling, and did not learn to fly well for several days. Then I missed them for some days, and thought they had learned to care for themselves. But one afternoon I heard the familiar call. and looking up into a tree, found them. Now they acted like fly catchers, flying into the air like fly catchers, and returning to their original perch. They were strong in flight, and it was difficult to tell them from the old ones,
They were beginning to care for themselves and were developing a voice of sweetness.
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