104 Bird -Lore always to be struck in the same way by all three birds, or, for all I know, by both the Chippies and both the Kingbirds. It was as if they knew the JRobin's grievance and believed only his side of the case, — believed that, after robbing his nest, while his little heart was already breaking at his wife's plight with the cherry, I had chased her about, to kill her, and they felt, with him, that I must be exterminated. Presum- ably they had witnessed all my offenses, although I particularly noticed the fact that they had given no indications of this at the time, — a fact that gave extraordinary force to the sense that they must have been told. It does seem that if birds and we "be of one blood" and differ only in degree , there could be nothing more primitive, and therefore impartable than what this Robin had to tell: "That boy is a murderer; see how my hatred proves it!" Now here is the sequel to this remarkable affair. Weeks went on and I had forgotten to notice that the poor widower still sat, with briefest absences, on that one egg, or on whatever there now was in that nest, in place of the egg. I suppose I must have discovered that, at last, he was feeding a young bird there; but he sat on, so much too long that the strangeness of it all dawned on me one day, and I re-climbed the tree, while the poor father went nearly out of his head. A strange spectacle met my eyes; a full-grown, full-feathered, long-tailed young Robin, pressed out wide with being so long sat on, filled the nest from rim to rim. I didn't ascertain whether his spread-out aspect was merely of his feathers, or whether his anatomy had really suffered. I put my finger under him and gently raised him, capping, in the poor widower's frenzied belief, all my series of deviltries, till suddenly he flew away, perfectly nor- mally as far as I remember, but for many days or weeks I do remember that I could recognize him with his parent about the place. — Abbott H. Thayer. Bird- Life Along Sucker Brook Not a very high-sounding name for a creek, — in fact, I believe thatthere is another name, Bay Brook, but to me the old name given by the first inhabitants of this region has a more pleasant sound. Sucker Brook is a small stream flowing into the west side of the east branch of Lake Keuka, one of the prettiest in central New York. The brook is a small creek, which has its rise about one and one-half miles back from the lake in a small swamp. It flows through low, wet meadow-land for about three-fourths of its length, and the remaining distance is through a beautiful grove The brook receives its name from the fact that in spring suckers come up into its mouth to spawn, though the number grows less year by year. During the summer the lower part of the brook usually dries up, leavingonly a stone- strewn channel through the grove. In the spring crayfish and frogs are very abundant along itscourse. Twice this stream is crossed by a trolley line, and three times by a public highway. Near its mouth are located the power-house for the trolley line, a basket factory and a cooper's shop. From- any point along its bank one can hear the whiz of the trolley-car and the rumble of the farmer's wagon as he passes along the road. Yet in spite of its publicity, I find it the best place for bird study in my neighbor- hood. Its thicket-covered banks form a paradise for Warblers in their season ; in fact, it is the only place hereabouts where I do see the more retiring of these bits of color. Here I have seen eighteen different Warblers, among them the Mourning Ground, Wilson's, Parula, Blackpoll, Black-throated Green and Blue, Louisiana Water-Thrush, Canadian, Kentucky, etc. About April 21 the Hermit Thrush puts in his appearance, and during the summer evenings the Veery charms me with his rich soprano-alto .notes. The Spotted Sand- piper, of course, is present with his sharp peet-iveet. The Kingfisher obtains many a good meal from its waters during the first part of the season. Five kinds of Swallows are seen along the course of the creek during the summer, the Rough-winged some- times nesting near the mouth of the stream. As I follow the bank and come out of the grove I find Sparrows in abundance, and in the marshy border the noisy Red-
