WESTERN WARBLESTG VIREO 377 



he would leave. Then, alighting on a small dead fir tree nine feet 

 from the nest, he \YOuld burst into song." He sang at intervals on 

 the nest. "If the female was incubating she quickly became aware of 

 my presence, and at a distance of about five feet, would flit from the 

 nest to a nearby bush, to begin the usual vireo scold." Both parents 

 assisted in feeding the young and in cleaning the nest, which was kept 

 scrupulously clean. The male was very bold in feeding the young, so 

 that Mr. Rust was able to take some photographs of him in the act. 

 "I was able to observe only the male parent feeding at close range, 

 and I was surprised to note the care he took to feed the helpless young 

 before they were strong enough to raise their heads for food." After 

 the young "were several days old the male would sing from the tree 

 as before, then fly direct to the nest and perching on the brim, would 

 sing as if he would burst his throat." "On one occasion," he says, 

 "a male Cassin Purple Finch seemed to share his joy, and, alighting 

 on the singing tree, joined in and sang his best. The same incident 

 occurred again when the young were a week old, but this time the 

 male vireo seemed to resent the intrusion and drove the finch away 

 in a hurry, chasing him some distance. * * * In securing food for 

 the young the female gathered much larger insects than the male, 

 often coming in with a good size caterpillar dangling from her bill. 

 Wlien I was near she would fly back and forth six or eight feet from 

 the nest and scold until the food was either lost or she ate it, I never 

 could tell which. She never fed the young while I was near." 



Wlien first hatched the "four naked, dark, yellow-colored young" 

 were all "huddled up in a pile in a corner of the nest." The young 

 gained rapidly in size and strength, but one was found dead in the 

 nest, when five days old. In removing the dead bird, Mr. Rust found 

 that its claws were closed tightly over several strands of horsehair 

 in the lining ; this clutching habit seems to be characteristic of young 

 vireos, and might prove very useful in a gale of wind. 



At the age of nine days the two stronger young had their eyes open, 

 but one weakling was several days longer in acquiring its eyesight. 

 "At the age of twelve days the young were well feathered and able to 

 perch on the edge of the nest with a little assistance on my part. The 

 parents became very much excited when they saw two of the nestlings 

 out on the edge of the nest and uttered similar chirping notes trying 

 to coax them away. On the fifth day of July they had their pictures 

 taken for the last time ; on the sixth the nest was deserted. Two days 

 later I found the parent birds in some dense brush about seventy-five 

 yards from the nest, but could not locate any of the young. After 

 a severe scolding from the parents I retired and left them to their ways 

 in peace." 



Plumages. — The plumages and their sequence are similar to those 

 of the eastern warbling vireo, with the probability of a partial pre- 



843290—50 25 



