Wild Birds 



days old for forty minutes at a time, while her mate brought an 

 abundance of food. As he approached with an insect or cluster 

 of worms, she would step aside, but immediately settle back on 

 the nest when the food had been safely disposed of. As a rule, 

 however, she would brood for five or ten minutes, leave at the 



approach of the 

 male, return 

 promptly with 

 food, and brood 

 until her mate 

 again appeared. 

 On several oc- 

 casions I have 

 seen a brooding 

 bird leave the 

 nest when the 

 sun be came 

 temporarily ob- 

 scured, and re- 

 turn when the 

 clouds lifted. 

 It was not quite 

 certain, how- 

 ever, that the 

 element of 

 chance did not 

 vitiate the ob- 

 servation. 



While camped 



beside a nest of Brown Thrushes (see Figs. 44 and 98), the 

 young of which were approximately four days old, the fe- 

 male came to the nest for inspection frequently on the first 

 day of observation, and brooded intermittently, but fed her 

 young only once in the space of three and a half hours. When 

 I frightened this bird off with the hand thrust through the 

 tent-window, she would dart at it, scold emphatically, but in 

 a few moments return to her brooding again, as if her young 



Fig. 105. The Chestnut-sided Warbler in her common 

 brooding attitude. 



