BLUE-WINGED WARBLER 



69 



as may be found on the underside of oak and chestnut leaves— and 

 then shielded the callow young from the hot rays of the sun. 



"On June 16, at 6.30 p. m., when the young were three days 

 old, a downy puff appeared between the shoulders, wing quills being 

 dark. The strongest bird had the eyes partly open and the mouth 

 wide open for food. 



"On June 18, at 7 p. m., the heads and bodies were no longer 

 flesh-colored but were well enough covered to appear dark. The eyes 

 were open. At a cluck from me their mouths flew open. Both 

 parents fed them with green-colored larvae. When the male rested 

 a moment on a brier above the nest, the female flew down and drove 

 him away, fed the young, re-appearing with excrement in her beak, 

 which was carried in an opposite direction from the regular approach 

 via maple bough and poplar sapling. The male fed young from a 

 mouthful of very minute larvae or eggs, which were gathered from 

 the silken nests in the unfolding leaves of a nearby poplar; after 

 this (7.30 p. m.) the female covered the young for the night, 



"On June 20, at from 6.50 to 7.35 p. m., the young had been 

 seven days in the nest. They were well feathered and of a yellowish- 

 green cast, the short tails being tipped with yellow. The parents were 

 more suspicious. The female came to the maple bough with some- 

 thing in her beak and flew down to the briers and back again several 

 times before she dropped to the edge of the nest and fed her young. 

 The male appeared immediately but swallowed a green grub himself 

 upon discovery of me twenty-five feet away. The female came 

 again in five minutes with a brownish object in her bill, but appeared 

 more timid and refused to drop to the nest until the male set her 

 an example of courage. 



"On June 21, at 6.12 p. m., the young were fully fledged in green 

 plumage above and dirty yellow beneath. They showed fear of 

 me for the first time, eyeing me in the same manner as the parent 

 bird when on the nest. They were evidently ready to vacate at a 

 moment's notice or hasty movement on my part. The parents appeared, 

 scolding rapidly. The female fed the young as soon as I retired 

 to my old stand under a bush, with a rather large green grub (6.20 

 p.m.) and flew out to the top of a blackberry bush, followed imme- 

 diately by the topmost fledgeling. It could do little more than run. 

 The adults flew to within a yard of my head, making a great outcry, 

 and in the midst of the excitement the remainder of the young 

 vacated the nest with feeble chips. The male gave his attention 

 to them, while the female followed me as I beat a hasty retreat to 



