82 



The Wilson Bulletin — No. T9. 



Brooding. 



The first observations were taken on the afternoon of June 

 23, when the young- birds were about six days old. The af- 

 ternoon was hot and sultry and the nest was in such a position 

 as to be exposed to the hot rays of the sun. One or the other 

 of the old birds brooded almost all of the time. During the 

 afternoon, the male brooded once for a period of twenty-six 

 minutes and the female for twenty minutes, but the periods 

 as a rule were short, being from two to five minutes in length. 

 At about two o'clock the shadow of an oak tree was thrown 

 on the nest and the old birds ceased brooding. On the next 

 day the brooding was carried on until about the same time, 

 but the old birds were not so particular about staying on the 

 nest all of the time, and by the following Monday, June 26, 

 the brooding to protect the young had practically ceased. 



There was a marked difiFerence in the position assumed by 

 the male and female in brooding'. The male sat on the edge 

 of the nest with his feathers ruffled up, or stood in the nest 

 in much the same posture, affording very poor protection for 

 the young as compared with that given by the female. She 

 spread her wings, rufiled her feathers, and stood in such a 

 position as to completely shade the nest. Figures 3 and 4 

 show this contrast in behavior much better than it can be de- 

 scribed. The position in protecting the young from the rain 

 during the storm of the 25th, was entirely different. The fe- 

 male was on the nest every time it was visited during the 

 morning. She sat down close to the nest and so well did 

 she cover it that, after one of the worst rain storms of the 

 season, the nest was perfectly dry. On the last two nights that 

 we watched the nest until the close of the feeding activity, we 



