268 THE WiLson BULLETIN—NOs. 76-77. 
June 4, no change; June 12, one young and one pipped egg. 
Apparently a period of 23 to 25 days. 
Young. 
CARE OF THE NESTLING—I have studied the nestlings of five 
different nests. So silent and secretive are the devoted parents 
that only one nest was discovered after the brood had appear- 
ed. I had passed and repassed almost daily the white oak 
which stood at the juncture of two woodland paths, without 
discovering the hidden nest, and it was not until | had finally 
tarried awhile at the nest of an Oven-bird close by, that I no- 
ticed the ground within a radius of perhaps twenty feet plenti- 
fully besprinkled with the excrement of the three young larger 
than squabs. that the female at last betrayed, June 19, “00. 
Contrary to the general belief, the forcible ejection of excre- 
ment is not peculiar to the young alone as any one having an 
adult captive may discover. In another instance the single 
nestling hatched on June 12, and left the nest July 23, “01, a 
period of 41 days. In another instance two out of three 
eggs hatched on June 3, 96, and the infertile egg disposed of 
soon after. Later one of the young died and was probably car- 
ried away. The remaining nestling was taken by me on July 
1, after it had prematurely flushed from the nest on my unex- 
pected appearance: the period was 29 days. Abundance of 
food is provided and the nest supplied daily with green leaf 
sprays. by the parents. The tender young are protected from 
the hot summer sun, inclement weather and cool nights. I 
have found the male covering 5 days old hawklets. Even when 
they have become fairly well fledged, one or the other of the 
birds seem always in attendance in a nearby tree top. The 
whistled protest of the parents as they shadow one through the 
woods, is all the hint one often has of their presence and un- 
ceasing vigilence. How long they are guarded after leaving 
the nest, I am unable to say, but for a week or two after the 
nest is vacated, a protesting whistle from a hidden form 
in the neighboring foliage informs one af the jealous care of 
the juveniles doubtless also hidden nearby. The immatures 
