May, 1920 HOME LIFE OF THE WESTERN WARBLING VIREO 89 
they would retire and leave the female vireo to her fate. She would return 
to the nest as soon as I withdrew from sight. 
If my visit happened in the morning, and the male was incubating, I could 
almost touch the nest before he would leave. Then, alighting on a small dead 
fir tree nine feet from the nest, he would burst into song. This small tree was 
his singing tree, and from this tree he nearly always approached the nest iu 
the same manner, first singing from the tree, then moving to a perch on a shrub 
-near and above the willow, and then to the twig supporting the nest. During 
incubation he would sing once near the nest, then proceed to cover the eggs, 
“Oo 
and as soon as he was comfortably settled down he would sing regularly at 
Fig. 19. MALE WESTERN WARBLING VIREO ON THE NEST, 
SINGING WHILE PERFORMING THE DUTY OF INCUBATION. 
short intervals. Not being able to secure any photos of the female without 
constructing a blind, I contented myself with making pictures of the male, a 
willing subject. 
At the end of twelve days the four white eggs with their markings of black 
specks gave place to four naked, dark yellow-colored young; when first seen 
all were huddled up in a pile in a corner of the nest. I was able to observe only 
the male parent feeding at close range, and I was surprised to note the eare he 
took to feed the helpless young before they were strong enough to raise their 
heads for food. 
