. A-birding on a bronco . okeand there were nothing for him to do in the worldbut sing and make love to his pretty mate — asif life were all a-courtin. On this day he firstcame to the tree with food, sang out for his spouse,gave her the morsel, and flew off. Later in the 32 A-BIRDING ON A BRONCO. morning he brought food and his mate carried it tothe young. But afterwards, when she started totake a morsel from him, behold ! he — the gay, friv-olous little beau,the minstrel lover— actually acted asif he did nt wantto give it up, as ifhe wanted to feedhis own little birdshimself. With wings tremb
. A-birding on a bronco . okeand there were nothing for him to do in the worldbut sing and make love to his pretty mate — asif life were all a-courtin. On this day he firstcame to the tree with food, sang out for his spouse,gave her the morsel, and flew off. Later in the 32 A-BIRDING ON A BRONCO. morning he brought food and his mate carried it tothe young. But afterwards, when she started totake a morsel from him, behold ! he — the gay, friv-olous little beau,the minstrel lover— actually acted asif he did nt wantto give it up, as ifhe wanted to feedhis own little birdshimself. With wings trembling athis sides he turnedhis back on hismate and startedto walk down thebranch away fromher ! But he wastoo fond of her toeven seem to refuseher anything, andso, coining back,gave her the mor-sel. She proba-bly divined histhought, and, letA Trying Moment. us J10pe? was glad to have him show an interest in his children atlast; at all events, when he came again with foodand clung to the tip of a drooping twig waiting. THE LITTLE LOVER. 33 although she first lit above him and came downtoward him with bill wide open and wings flutter-ing in the pretty, helpless, coquettish way femalebirds often tease to be fed ; suddenly, as if re-membering, she flew off, and — he went in to thenest himself ! It was a conquest; the little loverwas not altogether lacking in the paternal in-stinct after all ! I looked at him with newrespect. On June 12 I wrote : The wrens seem to havesettled down to business. It was delighful tofind the small father actually taking turns feed-ing the young. I saw him feed his mate onlyonce or twice, and noticed much less of the quiver-in^ wings, though after leaving the nest he wouldsometimes light on a branch and move themtremulously at his sides for a moment. June 15 Iwrote : The birds are feeding rapidly to-day. Ihear very little song from the male ; probably hehas all he can attend to. I d like to know howmany young ones there are in that hole. Atall eve
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1896
