
NEST STUDY OF MARYLAND YELLOW-THROAT 5 
FOOD AND FEEDING 
During the first few days after the young were hatched the 
male did much more of the feeding of the young than did the 
female. This is undoubtedly explained by the fact that the 
duties of the female in brooding the young confined her to the 
nest much more closely during this period. By the fifth and 
sixth days the two parents shared the work of feeding about 
equally. Throughout the entire period, however, the male 
maintains the lead over the female in feeding activity by about 
ten per cent, as shown in figures of Table I. 
Often during the first few days food was brought to the nest 
by the male and delivered to the female, who, in turn, appor- 
tioned it to the young. The following note from the field record 
of the first day: ‘‘Male brought an insect and gave it to the 
female. They passed it back and forth to break it up; then 
she gave a little of it to the cow-bird, and the rest to the Blue.”’ 
Later when she heard him coming she would leave the nest, and 
he would do the feeding. 
The feeding visits of the first three days were preceded by 
a little chirp. On the fourth day the parents approached the 
TABLE II 
SHOWING DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD TO THE YOUNG 
Percentage 
Date Cowbird Red Blue Unknown Total Cowbird Red Blue 
July 9 32 it 8 51 63 21 16 
July 10 183 24 21 5 123 59 20 17 
July 11 82 26 26 1 135 61 19 19 
July 12 105 43 40 188 56 23 21 
July 13 27 10 7 44 61 23 16 
July 14 63 26 26 115 54 23 23 
July 15 97 47 40 1 185 52 25 22 
July 16 190 100 91 381 50 26 24 
July 17 99 25 39 163 60 15 24 
Totals 768 312 298 Ua waleisay; 
Percentage 55 22 22 1 
*Occasionally, in feeding, the female got off the nest and stood between the 
blind and the young, so that it could not be determined which of the young 
were fed. 
+The total shown here is greater than the total in Table I. This is due to 
the fact that sometimes the parent divided the food up between two or more 
of the young, and the feeding of each young is counted in this table. 
