Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967)

bush and an elder treemade a sort of shelter, a kind of a nook that seems apart from the rest of the yard. And well was she repaid for her trouble; the sparrows and robins have stayed all summer. I thought the act of the robins departing for the woods was an instinct but this shows that their wants largely govern a birds actions.

     I have had much pleasure and amusement watching the birds at their drinking fountain at times. The robins are bosses of the place. One day I saw a robin perched on the edge of the pan, but not pretending to drink. Wondering, I waited. Presently and sparrow came down and perched on the opposite side,only to be violently routed away by the robin. While he was doing this another came down, in turn to be chased away. There were five or six sparrows and they kept their manueverings up for some time, when the small birds finally realized that the