Life Histories of Various Species 
207 
female and sang at the nest for some time before taking his 
departure. 
On July 13 I returned to Mormons Ridge and found three 
young about three or four days old. I immediately erected a 
blind at the nest and returning at four in the afternoon found 
the parents still making more or less fuss over the blind. I 
returned at 7 :50 a. m. on the morning of the 14th and staid until 
11 :40 a. m. During this time I succeeded in exposing many 
films but failed to secure good negatives. 
During the five and one-half hours that I watched the nest 
the nestlings had 30 feedings, 10 of which were made by the 
female and 20 by the male. I found it impossible under the 
conditions at this nest to identify much of the food except in a 
very general way. The bushes simply swarmed with minute in- 
sects, mostly dipterous, and small green larva, a large portion of 
Avhich Avere geometrids. TAventy-tAvo winged insects, sixteen 
larvae, one fly, and one spider Avere recognized during the thirty 
feedings, and on three occasions when the young Avere fed I 
could make out nothing as to its character. 
Of the tAvo parents the female Avas much tlie more shy and 
timid. The day Avas hot and the nest partially exposed to the 
sunshine. The male seemed to realize the necessity for brooding 
the young. Several times he chased the female through the bushes 
scolding angrily until she settled on the nest. I can not say 
whether he Avas really trying to force her to brood the young 
but his actions had everw appearance of such an effort. The 
female was manifestly much Avorried by the blind while she was 
brooding. At first she tAvisted and turned continuously, but 
toward the end of the observation she became more quiet. 
The male at this nest displayed a greater freedom from 
“nerves” than any male bird I ever Avatched. When feeding he 
came boldly to the nest after the first tAvo trials. The click of 
the camera, which was sufficient to send the female from the nest 
in headlong panic, merely caused him to lift his head and stare 
into my face through the peep-hole in the blind, Avhich was 
eighteen to tAventy-four inches aAvay. It Avas very evident that 
he saw nothing to fear in the muslin blind or the clicks that em- 
anated from it and that he could not understand the absurd be- 
havior of his wife. Slie gradually became reconciled to the situa- 
tion when she saAv no harm coming to her mate. 
The actions of the two birds, however, Avere very interesting 
and I only Avished it Avere possible to remain longer. 
