64 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 69 



to 3 feet beneath the nest; then he hopped up to the rim. The 

 female approached from various directions, and flew 20 to 30 feet 

 directly to the rim of the nest. On three occasions the male and 

 female departed from the nest at the same time. Each time they 

 flew in different directions. 



Sims and DeGarmo (1948, p. 5) found that at several West 

 Virginia nests young left after 10 days of nest life. At Augusta, 

 Ga., the young remained 12 or more days in their nests (Griscom 

 and Sprunt 1957, p. 53). Young that I observed at Macon, Ga., 

 fledged at 10 days. 



CARE OF FLEDGLINGS 



Fledglings of a Dismal Swamp brood, just 2 days out of the 

 nest, were fed only by the female during my 2 days of observa- 

 tions (June 13-14, 1967) . The male was usually within 100 feet of 

 the young and sang much of the time. The three fledglings usually 

 did not attempt to follow the parents, but stayed within a rela- 

 tively small area where they waited for the female to return with 

 food. Most of the time they were perched 6 to 12 inches from the 

 ground in heavy cover. During one 2-hour period, two of the three 

 fledglings remained close together (5 to 10 feet) within a 20-foot- 

 square area ; at other times they were 50 to 100 feet apart. Some- 

 times after being fed, a fledgling attempted to hop along after its 

 parent, but was soon left behind as the parent flew off in quest of 

 food. 



The fledglings were fed an average of every 15 minutes. When 

 returning with food the female would walk and hop, rather than 

 fly, to the waiting young. The young, hearing the approaching 

 female parent rustling through the leaf litter, would intensify 

 their chipping as she reached a point about 20 feet from them. 



On three occasions, just as the female was about to feed a 

 fledgling, the male pounced on her. As related above, pouncing 

 also occurs during the prenesting period after the birds have 

 paired. 



Voice 



SONG 



The song of the Swainson*s Warbler is loud and ringing and of 

 marked musical quality. As Dingle (in Bent, 1953, p. 36) states, 



The bird student who hears the song of Swainson's warbler as he sings in 

 his wooded retreat is fortunate, for it is one of the outstanding warbler 

 songs and, once heard, leaves a lasting impression upon the listener. At a 

 distance it bears much resemblance to the songs of the hooded warbler and 



