Care of Young and Nest. 



97 



about the nest by a long series of photographs, only a few of which can be shown, was a 

 most devoted brooder for days. She would stick to her charge until driven off by sheer 

 force or by hunger. I have often seen her drop down in the grass, pick up a morsel on 

 her own account, and be back to the nest in a fraction of a second before the insect was 

 fairly swallowed. Again she might leave the nest twenty times in the course of an hour 

 to procure food either for herself or her children. Her mate would often alight above 



Fig. 89. Female Robin brooding : a characteristic attitude when alert, or listening to any unusual sound. 



the nest, bend far down and deliver the insects into the mouth of the brooding hen, who 

 would promptly hop up and give every morsel to the young. 



This little warbler would sometimes sit well down in the nest, and erect some of her 

 feathers and apparently inflate the throat so that the bird's head appeared as if swollen 

 to twice its natural size. She made the most comical picture, however, when on a hot 

 day she stood or sat over the young, with every feather erect, striving to keep them cool 

 and to be comfortable herself meanwhile. 



The female Kingbird broods constantly when the heat is severe, and at the approach 



