2l6 LIFE-HISTORIES OF BIRDS 



to become more adherent and impacted on ex- 

 posure to the elements, and the necessity of a 

 fluid can be dispensed with. 



After the nest is finished, the female commences 

 on the ensuing day, the duty of oviposition, whi^h 

 proceeds at the rate of a deposit of one egg per 

 diem, until her complement has been laid, which 

 requires from three to four days. In^ub^tjon 

 commences on the day succeeding the last deposit, 

 and requires a period of 1 1 days. In this duty 

 we have known the male to perform his share of 

 the labor. While the one is thus engqigad, the 

 other is absent from the immediate neighborhood, 

 either designedly, or in quest of food. When the 

 nest is assailed, there are manifestations of un- 

 easiness; but the earnest scolding and hoarse 

 mewing that are so peculiar to its near cousin, the 

 Vireo noveboracensis of Bonaparte, are trait? whicj) 

 it has not developed. 



The young are assiduously fed by their parents 

 until sufficiently matured to look after their own 

 temporal concerns. During their state of helpless- 

 ness, they are nourished with the larvae oi Ani- 

 sopteryx vernata, A. pomelaria, Zerene catenaria, 

 Hybernia tiliaria, Ennomos subsignaria, Limacodes 

 scapha, and mature forms of Musca doinesticaj 

 Tabanus lineola, Tipida, ferruginea, aphides, and 

 small spiders. In about 1 2 days they leave the 

 nest, and in a week longer they are prepared, to 

 earn their own subsistence. 



There is but one brood in a season, although 



