Page:Bird-lore Vol 04.djvu/116

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A Home in a Cellar

The Phoebe of which I am about to ﬁrst observed on April r2. Seven or eight days later its supposed mate arrived, and it was amusing to see them as they flew about together peering and exam~ ining different places near the house. Two or three times I startled the pair by opening a door which leads from the kitchen to a back room or shed.

In a week‘s time, after the arrival of the mate. the building site was chosen. a small board projecting from a beam above a win- dow inside the cellar. Day after day they brought grass. moss and mud and an occasional feather until the structure was complete.

We were in the habit of closing 'and locking the cellar door as night drew near; but now that our feathered friends had con- structed their domicile in the cellar, we left it open.

On May 4. there was one pinkish white egg in the nest. The nexl day another was laid, and so on until, on May 7, there were four eggs. Then the intervention of one day, and on May g there were ﬁve eggs in the nest to he hatched. Then the female was conﬁned more or less to the nestt

After fourteen days there were two naked birds; a few hours later. rhree; the next morning four. and later that morning. five. The parents were kept very busy hringing insects and bugs to appease the hunger of the ﬁve little ones. which were soon clothed in a suit of feathers resembling their par- ents‘, and also were fast ﬁlling their nest. I thought that it was nearly time for them to

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fly. when a catastrophe befell them.

One morning, fourteen days after their birth. I went to make my customary call. and not a young bird was to be seen and the nest was torn to pieces. The poor par- ents ﬂew about crying piteously. I did not know how to account for the accident unless some cat was‘ the depredator.

Any other bird would not have stayed in the vicinity after such a mishap. But the Phoebe. whose great characteristic is perse- to

verance, did not allow such a calami ‘- utterly discourage her horn rearing a hrootl,

Two days were taken for mourning, and on June ro they started with renewed vigor to build overa shelf at a short distance from the old site. They used what was left of the first nest and brought fresh material. un- til in four days a new one was completed and one egg was deposited therein. By June is. another set of ﬁve eggs had been laid. and incubation began once again.

By this time the mother bird had become acquainted with me. and ate stunned insects which I had placed on the edge of the nest, while l stood near hy.

Another two weeks passed and July 1 found the eggs hatching. all came at their respective time.

hey one and The par- ents had much the same duties to perform as with the previous brood.

Two weeks and are days elapsed, during which time the young had grown large and become feathered. Then came an impor- tant epoch in their lives. the day for ﬂying,

Alter stretching and trying its wings. the first-horn was ready to leave its home and with the encouraging calls of its parents ﬂew from the nest. It reached a clothes- line a few yards from the door. where it sat balancing itself and jerking its queer short tail. Before nightfall its parents had in— duced it to ﬂy a little farther to a pear tree. Three more birds had similar experiences.

It took more coaxing and advising to get the youngest away from home. While sit- ting sleepin on the clothes-line. a ﬂy or some insect chanced to pass near his head. Very suddenly and unexpectedly he leaped into the air. caught the insect. but was un- able to regain his nlighting place and went ﬂuttering to the ground. Luckily. no cat was near and his parents prompted him to fly into a pear tree. There he sat chatting very contentedly at regaining a perch.

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