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the ground and no sign of the three naked young that hatched yesterday. The ground around the four-foot post was covered by rust-colored robin breast feathers; tail feathers were nearby. Tbe brooding female did not escape the predator that raided the nest sometime during the chill of night.
How does one describe the sickening emotional jolt induced by such a sight?
The first of the four eggs hatched sometime — maybe during the night — before 7:15 yesterday morning. I had discovered the nest soon after the first egg was deposited in the mud and straw nest, and anticipated photographing the adults feeding the young when they were older. The nest was at a perfect height for setting up a camera.
The female carefully supervised the hatching yesterday. I could see her among the tangle of honeysuckle that gave the nest some protection. She perched at the edge of the nest and watched; on occasion she reached into her nest to do something with her bill. Eggs two and three hatched sometime yesterday. On my 6 p.m. check at the nest, I counted three tiny, vulnerable fragments of life covered with a bit of feather down. They were all head and abdomen; their eyes were not open.
The adults had removed hatched shells of blue eggs. Leaving them in or under the next would have attracted predators. Something else drew a predator to the nest and the brooding female. It is known that predators follow the trails of warm blooded mammals for they lead to food. I am such a mammal. Had my repeated visits led the marauder to the nest?
Was it the opossum that has been nightly raiding the platform feeder? My initial impulse was to blame this mammal; he or she is certainly persistent. During the winter I often went out at dark to drive the critter away. At first he stood his ground and opened his mouth at me; typical opossum behavior. Later he scurried to the ground and ran away at my approach. For several weeks now this opossum has been cleaning the feeder of sunflower seeds I put out at dusk for the cardinal’s early morning visit.
Three or four weeks ago I discovered a heavy piece of wood in the garage. It was exactly the size of the feeder. At night I placed
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