180 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 97 



the nest with its mouth open and remained in this position 

 for five minutes. At 10 :15 the 'first bird returned and gave 

 some animal food to its mate. As before, both birds sat on 

 the edg-e of the nest and placed their bills within the little 

 ones' bills. Both parents kept their bills in motion all of the 

 time. At 11 :04 the first bird flew off without any sound. 

 The second bird remained on the side of the nest for a minute 

 and then sat on it, remaining there when I left. 



July 20, 7:00-8:15 P. M. 

 The second bird was on the nest and did not move when 

 I approached. Two minutes later the first bird flew to a limb 

 three inches from the nest. It was perfectly still for a quar- 

 ter of a minute and then gave what looked like a worm to 

 the second bird. They both put their beaks in the mouths of 

 the nestlings. At 7 :25 the first bird flew away, and from 

 then on until eight o'clock the second bird was on the nest. 1 

 reached out toward the nest and almost touched it before the 

 parent flew off. The four young birds still looked very naked. 

 One was a little larger than the other three. At 8 :02 the sec- 

 ond bird flew towards the nest with wings outstretched as if 

 trying to drive me off. 



July 22, 7:30-8:15 A. M., 3:30-4:30 P. M. 

 I found the four little birds with their heads up over the 

 nest and their eyes closed. Later when food was brought 

 they opened their eyes — the first time that I saw them 

 open — and raised their heads, opening their mouths. At 7 :55 

 the second bird brought amelanchier berries, and the little 

 birds stood up and nearly fell out of the nest. They uttered 

 a single monotonous note, which I shall call a chirp, and kept 

 opening and shutting their mouths and moving their wings 

 a little. In the afternoon, the birds opened their mouths as 

 the observer climbed upon the box and they continued doing 

 this for several seconds. The second bird flew by and at four 

 o'clock came to the side of the nest, while the first bird flew 

 to a tree about one hundred yards away. A few minutes later 

 the first bird returned with a small worm and gave it to the 



