Red-Eyed Vircos. 



65 



birds always perched, and thus stoud directl)- over their brood. Any vibration of the 

 nest, as when the feet of the old bird touched the main stem to which it was fixed, or 

 any sound above or below electrified the young, and up popped their heads like two jacks 

 in a box. With mouths wide agape, they would clamor and quaver, expressing their emo- 

 tions not only by the vibration of the wings but by the shaking of the whole body. 

 But the young at this tender age are unable to discriminate with any exactness. The 

 quivering of a leaf, or the stirring 

 of a twig close at hand, a puff of 

 wind, the flutter of a \\'ing or the 

 voice of any passing bird would 

 throw them into the same state of 

 excitement. But this was only 

 for a moment. Their heads would 

 again drop listlessly over the wall 

 of the nest, and with open mouths, 

 they \\'ould doze in the sunshine. 

 Something wcjuld then suddenly 

 arouse them, when they w'ould in- 

 stinctively" go to preening them- 

 selves just like old birds, although 

 the)' had at this time no feathers 

 which seemed to need this atten- 

 tion. 



Quite often you would hear 

 a Iiuic I hiiic ! which alwaj'S 

 aroused tlie young, who would 

 tsip ! back in earnest. While the 

 mother was again coming slowly 

 towards the nest with a bee in her 

 mouth, another bee happened to 

 criiss her path. She darted after 

 it but missed her aim. Then, dis- 

 posing (if the first insect, she 

 \\-atched her )'oung intently for a 

 moment, stooped, picked \\\> a small white package, and hurried away. 



At one o'clock the old birds took a midday rest, and it was full twenty minutes 

 before that reassuring piort ! piort ! was heard. Then as, step b}' step, the mother came 

 nearer the magnet, the drawing power of wdiich was irresistible, her livelier luiic I Iiiiic ! 

 awoke the young, who started and replied sunt I sivit ! Thereupon the old bird quickh' 

 hopped along the branch, straddled the fork, and tucked a large grasshopper into one of 

 the open mouths. In three minutes she was back with another, this time stopping to 

 clean the nest again. Five minutes b_v the watch had passed when she returned with a 

 brown grav-winged insect over an inch long, which an entomologist might be able to name 

 from the photograph. She paused for a moment while the )'i">ung called e.agerh- and 

 .stretched their necks to the utmost ; then she helped the insect do\\'n the throat of the 



Fig. 49. Male Red-eyed Vireo standing at nest after feeding the 

 young. Life-Size x 3. 



