The Audubon Societies 



245 



with her mouth open, panting like a dog 

 on a hot day. 



We got pictures of this bird by setting 

 the camera within a few feet of the nest, 

 and covering it with a green cloth. It was 

 soon regarded without suspicion. 



There was a marked difference in the 

 attitude of this bird and that of a pair 

 of Phainopeplas whose pictures we 

 coveted. Although we spent nearly fiv-e 

 whole days in an umbrella-blind near a 

 nest of these birds, during all that time 

 we secured just one picture of the black 

 male. He looked like an Indian chief 

 with a long crest of feathers standing 

 straight up. 



The Phainopeplas sally forth for 



insects and catch them on the wing, like 

 a Kingbird; but they are also very fond 

 of berries, as we noted while we sat in 

 the blind and watched the charming 

 mother come often with food for her 

 dainty offspring. 



She took entire charge of the house- 

 hold. If the children had been compelled 

 to depend upon the father they would 

 have gone hungry. As a rule, the female 

 did not carry the berries in her bill, but 

 she lit on the edge of the nest and coughed 

 up a berry, then another and another, 

 until I often counted five or six. She was 

 at the time feeding the young on the ber- 

 ries of what is commonly called "quail 

 bush." 



'THE PHAINOPEPLA LOOKED LIKE AN INDIAN CHIEF" 



