Reel-Eyed Vireos. 



birds always perched, and thus stood directly over their brood. Any vibration of the 

 nest, as when the feet of the old bird touched the main stem to which it was fixed, or 

 any sound above or below electrified the young, and up popped their heads like two jacks 

 in a box. With mouths wide agape, they would clamor and quaver, expressing their emo- 

 tions not only by the vibration of the wings but by the shaking of the whole body. 

 But the young at this tender age are unable to discriminate with any exactness. The 

 quivering of a leaf, or the stirring 

 "f a twig close at hand, a puff of 

 wind, the flutter of a wing or the 

 voice of any passing bird would 

 throw them into the same state of 

 excitement. But this was only 

 for a moment. Their heads would 

 again drop listlessly over the wall 

 of the nest, and with open mouths, 

 they would cloze in the sunshine. 

 Something would then suddenly 

 arouse them, when they would in- 

 stinctively go to preening them- 

 selves just like old birds, although 

 they had at this time no feathers 

 which seemed to need this atten- 

 tion. 



Quite often you would hear 

 a /i it it' ! liuii .' which always 

 aroused the young, who would 

 /.v// 1 / back in earnest. While the 

 ni< "tlier was again coming slowly 

 towards the nest with a bee in her 

 mouth, another bee happened to 

 cross her path. She darted after 

 it but missed her aim. Then, dis- 

 posing of the first insect, she 

 watched her young intently fora 

 moment, stooped, picked up a small white package, and hurried away. 



At one o'clock the old birds took a midday rest, and it was full twenty minutes 

 before that reassuring piort ! piort ! was heard. Then as, step by step, the mother came 

 nearer the magnet, the drawing power of which was irresistible, her livelier huic ! hiiic ! 

 awoke the young, who started and replied swit ! sicit ! Thereupon the old bird quickly 

 hopped along the branch, straddled the fork, and tucked a large grasshopper into one of 

 the open mouths. In three minutes she was back with another, this time stopping to 

 clean the nest again. Five minutes by the watch had passed when she returned with a 

 brown gray-winged insect over an inch long, which an entomologist might be able to name 

 from the photograph. She paused for a moment while the young called eagerly and 

 stretched their necks to the utmost ; then she helped the insect down the throat of the 



Fig. 49. Male Red-eyed Vireo standing at nest after feeding the 

 young. Life-Size x 3. 



