Produced by Chris Curnow, Joseph Cooper, Greg Bergquist and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net By Olive Thorne Miller. BIRD-WAYS. 16mo, $1.25. IN NESTING TIME. 16mo, $1.25. LITTLE BROTHERS OF THE AIR. $1.25. HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO. BOSTON AND NEW YORK. LITTLE BROTHERS OF THE AIR BY OLIVE THORNE MILLER [Illustration] BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY The Riverside Press, Cambridge 1893 Copyright, 1892, BY H.M. MILLER. _All rights reserved._ _The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U.S.A._ Electrotyped and Printed by H.O. Houghton & Company. INTRODUCTORY. Some of the chapters of this little book were written in 1888, on the shore of the Great South Bay, Long Island; others in the northern part of New York State, known to its residents as the "Black River Country," a year or two later. Part of them have been published in The Atlantic Monthly, Harper's Bazaar, The Independent and other papers. The nomenclature in the Table of Contents is that adopted by the American Ornithological Society. OLIVE THORNE MILLER. CONTENTS. ON THE GREAT SOUTH BAY. PAGE I. THE KINGBIRD'S NEST 1 Kingbird. _Tyrannus tyrannus._ II. A CHRONICLE OF THREE LITTLE KINGS 19 Kingbird. _Tyrannus tyrannus._ III. THE BABES IN THE WOOD 34 Flicker. _Colaptes auratus._ IV. HOME LIFE OF THE REDSTART 48 American Redstart. _Setophaga ruticilla._ V. WHEN NESTING IS OVER 61 Thrasher. _Harporhynchus rufus._ White-bellied Swallow. _Tachycineta bicolor._ Wood Pewee. _Contopus virens._ Bluebird. _Sialia sialis._ VI. IN SEARCH OF THE BLUEJAY 76 Bluejay. _Cyanocitta cristata._ VII. IN THE WOOD LOT 83 Bluejay. _Cyanocitta cristata._ VIII. THE BLUEJAY BABY 89 Bluejay. _Cyanocitta cristata._ IN THE BLACK RIVER COUNTRY. IX. THAT WITCHING SONG 99 Wilson's Thrush. _Turdus fuscescens._ X. THE VEERY MOTHER 107 Wilson's Thrush. _Turdus fuscescens._ XI. THE TAWNY THRUSH'S BROOD 114 Wilson's Thrush. _Turdus fuscescens._ XII. A MEADOW NEST 123 Wilson's Thrush. _Turdus fuscescens._ XIII. A JUNE ROUND OF CALLS 130 Wood Pewee. _Contopus virens._ Junco. _Junco hyemalis._ Flicker. _Colaptes auratus._ Redstart. _Setophaga ruticilla._ Sapsucker. _Sphyrapicus varius._ XIV. A BOBOLINK RHAPSODY 138 Bobolink. _Dolichonyx oryzivorus._