May, 1916 
NESTING OF THE TOLMIE WARBLER 
125 
minutes. On this particular day, too, the male Tolmie Warbler was frequently 
seen flitting about in the brush in company with the female. On the 19th, 
however, conditions were changed, the female again keeping close to the nest 
most of the time. 
The following day I made two unsuccessful attempts at photographing 
the. nest and eggs. While getting ready to make one exposure at a distance 
of six feet, which was as close as my kodak would allow, the Tolmie seemed 
to be trying to make up her mind to return to the nest, and I waited quietly 
to see what would happen. She kept hopping about on the ground nearby, 
eyeing me closely, and finally perched within six inches of her home, but 
would come no closer while I was in sight. A few days later, after two of the 
eggs had hatched, another attempt at photography gave better results. 
Repeated visits up to June 23, usually made while the female was absent, 
showed conditions unchanged. On this date, however, I had an idea that the 
eggs must surely be ready to hatch, so my first thought in the morning was 
to visit the nest. As I came near the chokecherry patch I discovered the female 
hopping about in an oak tree nearby. Gently pushing aside an overhanging 
branch I looked into the nest and found that, as I had hoped, it held two 
nestlings, with scarcely a trace of down on them. The motion I had caused 
in pushing aside the obstructing branch had been felt in the nest, and imme- 
diately one of the young birds raised its head and instinctively opened wide 
its mouth to be fed. 
Observation made the following morning discovered the parent bird 
absent, and the third egg hatched. Growth in the first two birds had been 
quite perceptible. They were, on this day, about two inches in length and 
about the same in stretch of wings. They were now scantily covered with 
down, a patch showing on top of the head, a line down the middle of the 
back, and a tuft on the wings. A noon visit disclosed the mother bird brood- 
ing. She eyed me as I crept slowly closer, and did not leave until I was within 
a foot and a half. A pushing aside of the overhanging branch to see if the 
fourth egg was hatched, produced the automatic opening of the three hungry 
mouths. 
The next two days’ observations were confined to brief inspections on the 
morning of June 25 and on the evening of June 26. The two visits showed no 
marked change in conditions, but brought me to the conclusion that the 
fourth egg was infertile. 
On June 27 I spent an hour during the morning timing the feeding of the 
three young birds, from a point about twelve feet distant. I found that the 
female warbler came with food at intervals of from three to five minutes 
throughout the hour. During this period the male bird came to the nest only 
once. My place of observation was too far away to warrant any statement con- 
cerning the kind of food brought to the young, other than that it consisted of 
insects. 
The condition of the young birds on June 27, the fourth day after the 
hatching of the first two (the development being practically the same in all 
three) was as follows. Juvenal feathers had appeared over most of the head, 
down the center of the back, and on the wings. The eyes of one bird were 
open. On the following day the eyes of the second bird were open. Dis- 
turbance of the branches above the nest produced the usual effect of opened 
mouths. On this day the male bird was noted, for the second time, bearing 
