Stanwood — Black-throated Green Warbler 187 



This spruce stood in a clump of firs that bordered an open 

 space in the woods. 



There was just room enough among the trees to erect a 

 small balsam blind. When it was completed, my face was 

 about a yard from the nest, and it was so dusky in the tent, 

 that there was little fear of the birds becoming aware of my 

 presence, save when I moved. 



As usual, the nest was a dainty-looking, soft, strong, warm 

 cradle. Fine spruce twigs, curls of birch bark, bits of dead 

 wood, secured and cemented together with spiders' silk, gave 

 the substantial foundation. The lining consisted of plant 

 down similar to that of the cinnamon fern, a few threads of 

 black plant fibre, and a' few of the dull, orange setae of some 

 moss such as dicranum pulled before they were ripe. The 

 nest was just large enough to accomodate four, plump, hun- 

 gry, sleepy, little Warblers. 



Hidden in the blind, I saw the mother bird brood the 

 young, cleanse the nest by burrowing under the young, and 

 carry away the excrement. The diet of the young consisted 

 of brown, white, gray moths, a fly-like insect, a bee-like 

 insect, a small beetle similar to the larder beetle, and a large 

 number of smooth caterpillars, both green and brown. Some- 

 times the mother bird fed three brown or three green caterpil- 

 lars to one nestling at a time. Often besides the insect that 

 I was able to distinguish, was a mass of other insect food that 

 I was unable to place. Usually each bird fed several nest- 

 lings at each feeding but not more than three at one feeding. 



The first day after the tent was constructed, I observed 

 three hours in the afternoon — from 18:37 to 3:05 p. m. A 

 bird cam'e a dozen minutes after I entered the blind. Dur- 

 ing that time, the male fed the young nine times, and car- 

 ried away the excrement three times : the female fed the 

 young nine times ; one visit was made by a bird whose sex 

 I did not determine : the rate of feeding the young was once 

 in nine and one-half minutes ; during my stay, I saw a few 

 of the insects fed to the young; among them were seven 

 smooth, green caterpillars, two brown moths, and three gray 



