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 Notes from Field and Study 109 The next morning, much to my delight, they both reappeared in the other tree, and in a few minutes decided on a place which was much better than their first choice. Soon they were bringing grass and straw, as before, and by night had the foundation of the nest completed. A little girl, who lives in the next house, furnished the birds with nesting material by cutting white twine in short pieces, and the male Robin took it almost as soon as she threw it on the ground. There was a quantity of twine and he evidently thought it a prize as lie hurried back and forth and took it all. Soon there was a lively discussion be- tween the pair, which ended in a real fight, and then the male Robin took his de- parture. I cannot understand bird-talk, but it seemed to me that the female Robin did not like the looks of that white twine, for it made the nest very conspicuous, and being placed in bunches, with the ends hanging, gave the nest a ragged appear- ance. The female Robin continued the work alone, pulling out some of the twine and covering some of it up. It was very in- ■teresting to watch her as she worked. She always worked from the inside, plac- ing her straw or grass where she wanted it, and then pressing against it with her breast to press it into shape. The birds began building the nest on the 19th of A|)ril, and the female com- pleted it on the 27th. On the 29th the third and last egg was laid. After this the female never left the nest except to make a <|uick trip to a neigh- boring field for food. On rainy days she had no food, and would sit there all day with her wings spread out over the nest in such a way that no water touched it. On the tenth day after the eggs were laid the male Roliin appeared. He lighted on a branch cIum- to llii- lu■^t and as soon as the female saw him she rumpletl up her feathers and flew away. He went to the edge of the nest, looked in and tiien flew away, and the female returned. On the next dav, the loth ot M.t, two Robins were hatched, and on the day fol- lowing the third one appeared. They began their clamor for food almost imme- diately. When the young were two days old the male came with some worms in his mouth. He didn't appear at all good natured and fairly pushed the female, who had rumpled up her feathers, out of the nest. His manner seemed to say, " I suppose that these are my children, and that I have got to feed them." He kept coming with worms, and after a few days the female would stand on the edge of the nest when she saw him coming, take some of the worms from him, when they fed the little ones together. Early one morning I was awakened by a great outcry from the birds. I rushed to the window and there was a neighbor's cat within a few inches of the nest. I succeeded in frightening the cat away, and although I made quite a commotion, the birds acted as if they knew it was being done by a friend to help them. That morning the boy who owned the cat got a wide piece of tin large enough to go around the tree and we tacked it on, so the birds had no more trouble with cats in that way. But in a day or two one of the little ones fell from the nest and the same cat caught and ate him. When the young Robins were nearly large enough to fly their mother left them one day to hunt for worms, but she never came back again, as a cat caught her. On the 26th of May, when they were sixteen days old, the little Robins left their nest for the first time. They hopped out on a branch l)y the side of the nest, and, after looking about for awhile, flew across the street into another tree and then on to the ground. Every one in the neighborhood had been very much interested in the birds, and word iinmediatcK' went around that the young l)irds had left the nest ami cats mu>t lie kept shut in. In a day or two they were taking care of themselves like old birds. — Anna A. Jord.w, Bcl/ui. Mtiinr.