Nov., 1921 ‘ HOME LIFE OF THE BLACK-TAILED GNATCATCHER 175 
eatcher, and they would seold vigorously at the appearance of a cat even out- 
side of the nesting season. 
The young were hatched out on May 3 and left the nest nine days later, on 
May 12. They remained in the same clump of bushes until the next day, when 
in response to urging by the parents they made several moves to other bushes. 
It would seem to require a well developed memory for location to enable the 
old birds, on returning from a distance with food, to find the young ones; 
for they sit quietly in the interior of a bush surrounded by many other simi- 
lar bushes. On two such oceasions I saw the mother bring food to a bush 
which the young had left some time previously. After searching for a while 
and then ealling without answer from the young ones she appeared to recol- 
lect and flew at once to them. 
The food furnished consisted of a large variety of small insects and spid- 
ers. The larger insects were first thoroughly beaten against a branch. The 
a b 
Fig. 29. a, Four YOUNG BLACK-TAILED GNATCATCHERS. 0, SAME NEST LATER, WHEN ONLY 
ONE YOUNG REMAINED. NEST ILLUMINATED BY SMALL MIRROR; BOTH PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN 
JUNE 25, 1920. 
largest insect noted was a walking-stick which, being nearly as long as the 
young bird, required considerable swallowing. One of the brood disappeared 
a few days after leaving the nest, but by the first of June the other two were 
beginning to hunt their own food and could be distinguished from the mother 
only by the greater amount of white on their outer tail feathers. 
On June 8 an inspection of the nest showed that a section of it had been 
removed, and it was found that only a small portion of the unused nest previ- 
ously built remained. A short search in the vicinity of the latter revealed a 
nest containing three eggs, about 50 feet away. The situation (see fig. 28) was 
similar to that of the nest used before, except that the foliage was less dense, 
and was also very similar to that of the nest found the previous year. The 
nest (fig. 30b) appeared a little looser and bulkier than those built of new ma- 
terials. As previously, the male seemed anxious to do his full share of the 
incubating and would sometimes almost force his mate from the nest. While 
