BIRDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
247 
or one that has been unable to enter into matrimonial relations for the 
reasons already assigned. Not willing to father the responsibilities of 
another, the old home, and its once precious charges if there be any, must 
be abandoned, and another domicile constructed and peopled. The mating 
being effected, a suitable spot chosen, a home prepared, and the subsequent 
duties of oviposition and incubation successfully passed through, all of 
which requiring time, it is not remarkable that nests should be found so 
late in the season. 
Coming back from this necessary digression, the young are from eleven 
to twelve days old when they leave the nest. The addition of a week or 
ten days to this period finds them sufficiently matured to attend to their 
own wants. At first they are fed by the parents upon various soft-bodied 
insects, which they glean from the branches and foliage of trees, but later 
on, butterflies and various species of andrena and halictus are brought to 
them. When able to provide for themselves, they consort with their 
parents, and subsist with them on various kinds of seeds and berries. 
The young do not acquire their full plumage until the following 
spring. Their characteristic dress in the fall nearly resembles that of the 
adult female. It is reddish-olive above, and fulvous-yellow below. Across 
the coverts there are to be seen two broad bands, and broad edges of 
pale rufus to the last half of the secondaries. The female is yellowish- 
gray above, greenish-yellow below, and is devoid of the black on the fore- 
head. The adult male has a bright gamboge-yellow dress, which is in a 
great measure relieved of its sameness by the black crown, wings and tail. 
A still further variegation is noticeable in the lesser wing-coverts, lower 
edges of the greater ones, ends of secondaries and tertiaries, inner margins 
of tail-feathers, upper and lower tail-coverts, and tibia, which are white. 
In the winter a yellowish-brown color replaces the yellow, the wings and 
tail become browner, and the black of the crown is lacking. The under 
parts take on an ashy-brown hue, which passes into white behind, and 
yellowish along the throat. The entire length of the mature birds is five 
and a quarter inches, while that of the wing is three. 
