disturbed, consists of a sharp "chip" like that of the "Chipping 

 Sparrow," but sharper and repeated oftener. 



This bird must be a great destroyer of leaf lice and small 

 caterpillars that infest the tips of branches and the underside 

 of leaves, for they are continually searching and picking at the 

 opening buds and waxen leaves at the ends of new twigs, the 

 male pausing frequently to sing. At times their actions remind 

 one of the Gnatcatcher in flitting hither and thither snatching 

 up small winged mites. 



It is impossible to ascertain, even with a good glass, what 

 they secure in their search, so difficult it is to watch 

 them up among the leaves. By personal examination I have 

 found numerous brown and green leaf-lice, and little "hump- 

 back" winged mites on the leaves and twigs where the birds 

 were picking. 



Much of the food brought to the young is of very small 

 insects and not discernible, from the distance one must keep 

 while watching the parents feeding their brood. Both old 

 birds tend their young, and at times get quite busy, but as 

 already stated the nature of the food is hard to determine. 

 ( >nce I saw a female carry a small brownish butterfly to her 

 young; and several times I have discovered the birds taking 

 small smooth green worms — -such as strip the leaves of their 

 green coat, leaving the ribbed skeleton, — to their nestlings. 

 The legs of a spider protruded from a bird's bill as she ap- 

 proached her nest. 



The young birds grow very rapidly, and in ten days, accord- 

 ing to observations taken at various times, they are strong 

 enough to leave the nest, but are not able to fly much, hop- 

 ping and fluttering until they secure a position one or two feet 

 above the ground, on a brier or bush. Here they settle down 

 and assume a drowsy attitude, every few seconds emitting a 

 peevish chirp, accompanied by a slight convulsive motion of 

 the whole body, and a partial opening of the eyes. This is in 

 marked contrast with their disposition while in the nest, where 



