File:A-birding on a bronco (1896) (14747156371).jpg

Identifier: abirdingonbronco00bail (find matches)
Title: A-birding on a bronco
Year: 1896 (1890s)
Authors: Bailey, Florence Augusta (Merriam), 1863-
Subjects: Birds Birds
Publisher: Boston, New York, Houghton, Mifflin
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries

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o spy at me, since Ihad thought it polite to stare at her ! When sat-isfied, she hopped along from beam to beam, herbright eyes still upon me. Then her mate joinedher. He had been suspicious of me at our firstmeeting, but apparently had changed his mind,for, seeing his spouse hesitate, he glanced at meunconcernedly, as much as to say, Is she allyou re waiting for? and flew out, leaving her tomy tender mercies. She hopped meekly into thebag after that rebuke, but stretched up to peer atme once more before settling down inside. One day when I looked in to see how wrenmatters were progressing, to my amazement andhorror, instead of my wrens nest I found another,high in the mouth of the bag with one fresh eggin it! The egg was a linnets, and the nest hadbeen built right on top of the wrens. Such astench came from the bag that I took out theupper nest and found the four little wrens deadin their crib. I had become very fond of the winsome motherbird, and so much interested in her brood that
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The Nosebag Nest.(Vigorss Wren.) 174 A-BIRDING ON A BRONCO. this horrid discovery came like a tragedy in thefamily of a friend. And what did it all mean? Unless the oldwrens had been dead, could the linnets havegotten possession ? The wrens were usually ableto hold their own in a discussion. If the nestlingshad been alive, would the linnets — would anybird — have built upon them, deliberately bury-ing them alive? It seemed too diabolical. Onthe other hand, what could have killed the littlewrens and left them in the nest ? If they hadbeen dead when the linnets came to build, howcould the birds have chosen such a sepulchre fora building site ? Grieving over my little friends, I cleaned outthe nosebag and hung it up on its peg. Threeweeks later I discovered, to my great perplexity,that a pair of wrens had built in the bottom ofthe bag and had one egg in the nest. Now, wasthis the same pair of birds that had built therebefore, and if so, what did it all mean ? XV. HOW I HELPED BUILD A

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