1034 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 237 part 2 



Mrs. Standwood wrote Mr. Bent as follows about a nest she watched 

 from a blind at EUsworth, Maine: 



"In the early stages of nursery life the parent birds fed the nest- 

 lings 'regurgitated' or partly digested food, together with a few 

 tender moths and caterpillars. Later I saw them feed yellow grubs, 

 millers, many spruce bud-moths, caterpillars, and crane flies. Dur- 

 ing one period of many hours of watching, the parents fed the young 

 nothing but great numbers of smooth, green caterpillars. 



"The youngsters begin to open their eyes at the end of the second 

 day and, as in other sparrows, their feathers begin to show about the 

 seventh day. At this time the active youngsters begin to show fear 

 by snuggling down in the nest when a person approaches it. I have 

 seen young birds stUl in the nest on the 11th and 12th days, but know 

 they could leave earlier if danger threatened them." 



Greulach's (1934) young left the nest when 12 days old. In two 

 nests near houses the young I (1965) followed left the nest in 9 days, 

 and I know that a number of these were raised to independence. 

 After leaving the nest the young remain at least partially dependent 

 on their parents for about 3 weeks. 



One brood I banded Aug. 3, 1959, just before they left the nest, 

 I was able to follow for an extended period. I saw the father, a crip- 

 pled bird readily identified, feeding them on August 24 and 27. On 

 August 30, however, one of the young perched on the feeder next to 

 its father and crouched in the begging posture with vibrating wings, 

 but without giving the usual begging call. The old bird stretched 

 upward into the aggressive posture a few times, and when the young- 

 ster continued to beg, the father flew at it and chased it a short distance 

 without feeding it. The banded young and their father were still 

 visiting the feeder daily on September 19, about 46 days after leaving 

 the nest. At this time the old bird had almost completed his post- 

 nuptial molt; the yoimg still had a few juvenal feathers in the head 

 and their undertail coverts had not quite completed their full growth. 



Plumages. — Mrs. Stanwood noted in a letter to Mr. Bent that 

 "When they first peck their way from the shell, young j uncos are a 

 reddish, burnt-orange color, and well covered with burnt-umber 

 down." Dwight (1900) on the other hand calls the natal down 

 "slate-gray." He notes the juvenal plumage is acquired by a com- 

 plete postnatal molt, and describes it as: 



"Above, drab, plumbeous on croun; sides of head and nape streaked 

 with dull black, the feathers especially of the back edged with bistre. 

 Wings and tail slaty black edged wdth olive-gray, the tertiaries and 

 and wing coverts with dull cinnamon, the greater coverts tipped with 

 buff. Two outer rectrices pure white. Feet pinkish buff, dusky 



