NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SWAINSON'S WARBLER 63 



The two females I observed always sat in the same positions 

 when incubating. Each left the nest each time in the same direc- 

 tion and fed in the same general area. The Pendleton Ferry fe- 

 male fed as far as 75 yards from her nest, but usually only about 

 30 yards from it. She fed both alone and with her mate. On one 

 occasion her mate, which had not sung for more than an hour, 

 flew to within 50 feet of the nest and sang two songs. The female 

 chipped and left the nest, and the two flew off together to feed. 

 Sometimes on leaving the nest the female flew out to about 30 

 yards from the nest where she chipped several times, presumably 

 to attract her mate. 



Upon returning to the vicinity of her nest, each female in- 

 variably chipped two or three times just before settling down. 



The Dismal Swamp female was often fed by her mate when she 

 left the nest during the incubation period. She followed the male 

 on the ground like a fledgling following its parent. The male, 

 walking about with cocked tail, gathered food and presented it to 

 her. 



During the several days of my observations, the Pendleton 

 Ferry male never visited the nest. He did not come closer than 40 

 feet and usually stayed more than 100 feet distant. The Dismal 

 Swamp male once, while the female was off feeding, visited the 

 nest briefly and, not finding the female there, flew off and began 

 singing vigorously. At dusk the Pendleton Ferry male was usually 

 seen closer to the nest (40 to 50 feet) than during the lighter part 

 of the day. He fed and sang in all areas surrounding the nest but 

 was seldom closer than 50 feet. He did not sing as much as an 

 unmated male in an adjacent territory. 



CARE OF NESTLINGS 



Most of my information on the care of nestlings is based on 

 observations made during a 7-hour period on July 7, 1967, in the 

 Dismal Swamp. Between 9:45 a.m. and 4:45 p.m. the 3-day-old 

 nestlings were fed 14 times, eight times by the male and six by 

 the female. The intervals between feedings ranged from 9 to 59 

 minutes. The female was at the nest 53 percent of the time brood- 

 ing the young and sometimes standing on the rim. If she was 

 brooding when the male came to the nest, she moved to the rim 

 while he fed the young. Only the male removed fecal sacs from 

 this nest, although at a Macon, Ga., nest the female also removed 

 fecal sacs, sometimes swallowing them. 



The male always approached from the same direction and 

 worked his way slowly through the undergrowth until he was 2 



