em to devolve almost entirely upon the female. The male is
hilarious and demonstrative, the female serious and anxious about her
charge. The male is the attendant of the female, following her
wherever she goes. He never leads, never directs, but only seconds and
applauds. If his life is all poetry and romance, hers is all business
and prose. She has no pleasure but her duty, and no duty but to look
after her nest and brood. She shows no affection for the male, no
pleasure in his society; she only tolerates him as a necessary evil,
and, if he is killed, goes in quest of another in the most
business-like manner, as you would go for the plumber or the glazier.
In most cases the male is the ornamental partner in the firm, and
contributes little of the working capital. There seems to be more
equality of the sexes among the woodpeckers, wrens, and swallows;
while the contrast is greatest, perhaps, in the bobolink family, where
the courting is done in the Arab fashion, the female fleeing with all
her speed and the male pursuing with equal precipitation; and were it
not for the broods of young birds that appear, it would be hard to
believe that the intercourse ever ripened into anything more intimate.

With the bluebirds the male is useful as well as ornamental. He is
the gay champion and escort of the female at all times, and while she
is sitting he feeds her regularly. It is very pretty to watch them
building their nest. The male is very active in hunting out a place
and exploring the boxes and cavities, but seems to have no choice in
the matter and is anxious only to please and to encourage his mate,
who has the practical turn and knows what will do and what will not.
After she has suited herself he applauds her immensely, and away the
two go in quest of material for the nest, the male acting as guard and
flying above and in advance of the female. She brings all the material
and does all the work of building, he looking on and encouraging her
with gesture and song. He acts also as inspector of her work, but I
fear is a very partial one. She enters the nest with her bit of dry
grass or straw, and, having adjusted it to her notion, withdraws and
waits near by while he goes in and looks it over. On coming out he
exclaims very plainly, "Excellent! Excellent!" and away the two go
again for more material.

The bluebirds, when they build about the farm buildings, sometimes
come into contact with the swallows. The past season I kn