378 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



parently begun with the first, or at least the second egg," all four were 

 hatched within less than 24 hours. 



The food brought to the young consists of a. large variety of small 

 insects and spiders, unidentifiable from a distance. Larger insects are 

 thoroughly beaten against a branch before being offered. The largest 

 noted was a walking-stick nearly as long as one of the young birds, and 

 was swallowed only after some difficulty. The nest and its surround- 

 ings are kept scrupulously clean at all times. 



On May 31, 1927, a record was made of visits to the nest by both 

 parents between 4:12 and 5:55 p. m. During this period of 1 hour and 

 43 minutes, the female brought food 37 times, at intervals ranging from 

 one to nine minutes, and averaging slightly less than three minutes. 

 The longer intervals occurred previous to 4:46 p. m., but no indication 

 of periodicity could be detected at any time. The record of the male 

 during this time probably was hardly representative: he brought food 

 only five times in the first 69 minutes, and nine times in the last 32 

 minutes. 



Whenever the partly feathered young would otherwise be exposed to 

 bright sunshine in the middle of the day, one of the parents is accus- 

 tomed to stand over them with wings extended sufficiently to shade the 

 interior of the nest. The same attitude is assumed when incubating 

 on hot days. With four young in the nest, the quarters become some- 

 what cramped as the brood approaches full growth, and the young 

 birds are sometimes disposed in two tiers, with one or both of those in 

 the lower layer almost concealed from sight. Presumably they change 

 places from time to time, as their rate of development always seemed 

 remarkably uniform, with the birds leaving the nest almost simul- 

 taneously. As with some other passerine birds, the fledging period 

 shows wide variations. One brood of three left the nest in nine days, 

 and a second in 10 or 11 days, while a family of four, in another year, 

 remained 14 or 15 days. 



After leaving the nest, the fledglings show little activity for a few 

 days, sitting quietly together and moving from bush to bush only at 

 the urging of the parents. To find their progeny, the old birds must 

 depend on their memories, as the young at this stage remain practically 

 mute. On two occasions I saw a mother bring food to a bush which 

 the young had left some time previously, and after searching for a 

 while and then calling without answer from the young ones which sat 

 stolidly in the interior of another bush, she appeared to recollect and 

 flew directly to them. The young are fed for about three weeks after 

 leaving the nest ; thereafter the birds of the first brood are not allowed 

 to loiter near the scene of the second nesting. 



Plumages. — The bodies of the young are entirely bare until the pri- 

 maries begin to appear, three or four days after hatching. When 



