THE WILLOW WARBLER 
soon after daybreak. During her absence Mr. 
Willow Warbler takes his turn on the nest. 
The eggs are hatched about the first week in 
June, and when this happens the mother is very 
excited and happy. As she sits on the nest she may 
be heard singing to herself in a low, sweet, purring way. 
The father helps to feed the young, but he is 
not so industrious as the mother. At first they are 
fed about once every ten or twelve minutes, the 
mother keeping the little bodies warm between the 
feedings ; but as they grow older and are covered 
with soft grey down, and then with wee feathers, 
they have more and more food, with shorter intervals 
of waiting, until, after fifteen days, when they are 
fledged and ready to leave the nest, their parents are 
feeding them all the while. 
The young Willow Warblers are not able to 
fly well at first, but their mother flutters with loving 
chirps from bough to bough, encouraging them to 
follow. They have to keep close to the ground, and 
this is an anxious time, for there are many enemies ready 
to pounce upon the downy mites. When they are 
able to fly higher they may be seen sitting in a row 
on a bough, close together for warmth and comfort. 
