166 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XII 
slie fed to the young. Several times I saw her bring food in this way to the young. 
In my mind there is no dout that she did not feed by regurgitation. 
In May of the same year I watcht the nest of a Spurred Towhee (Pipilo in. 
megalonysA. When I found the nest there were three newly-laid eggs. I kept 
watch of this nest, and in two weeks from my first finding it there were three 
young in the nest. They were quite naked and w'ere evidently hatcht that morning 
or the day before. At this time I watcht the birds going to the nest, but because 
of its location in the grass on the ground, I could not see them put the food into the 
mouths of the young. Finally, concealed behind an umbrella close to the nest, 
my companion saw the male come to the nest when the mother was covering the 
young. As he reacht her she stept aside and the male fed the young fresh food. 
The next day I was again at the nest. The female was calling piteously and upon 
looking I found that a snake, coiled in the otherwise empty nest, was the cause of 
her distress. Presently the male came to a nearby bush carrying a large moth in 
his bill. This was, of course, intended for the young and seemed proof sufficient 
that he was not feeding by regurgitation. 
Another bird of this same family who feeds fresh insects to young as soon as 
hatcht, is the southern California Towhee ( Pipilo c. senicula ) . I have watcht many 
nests of the newly hatcht of these birds and always they were fed fresh food as soon as 
they were fed anything. The food they seem fondest of feeding is a soft light 
green worm found on weeds or grass. As in the case of the Spurred Towhee I 
have seen a moth fed when young were tw r o days old. 
In April I watcht the nesting habits of the Rufous-crowned Sparrow (Aimophila 
ru peeps). On the 15th the eggs were not hatcht; but the next day at six p. m., I 
found young in the nest. I watcht the birds for half an hour and saw both of 
them come to the nest and feed the young with small worms and other insect life. 
I have often watcht at the nests of Phainopcpla nitens, a bird belonging to the 
same family as the Cedar Waxwing, and who is a summer visitant only, in southern 
California. At the nest of one of these birds which contained newly hatcht young, 
I saw the male go with a blue nightshade berry in his bill. As he rested on the 
side of the nest he threw back his head and let this berry slip into his throat, then 
back into his mouth, three times before feeding it to the young. I also saw the 
female fly thru the air in pursuit of tiny insects then go to the nest and feed. For 
some time I watcht the pair feed, and it was never by regurgitation, unless soften- 
ing the food by passing it up and down in the throat could be so designated. I 
believe many birds fill the throat with food before coming to the nest. It is their 
only means of carrying a quantity and, as I understand it, is not reguritation. 
In the case of a pair of Arkansas Kingbirds ( Tyrannies verticalis ) which I 
w^atcht, I believe the birds both fed fresh food directly to young and used regurgi- 
tative methods. Tho this pair of birds nested so high that I could not look into 
the nest, I w r atcht them daily and know the young were not more than a day old 
when I saw both adults fly thru the air, then to the nest where, side by side, they 
fed the young. Several times I sau r them do this. I also saw the female take the 
nest without feeding and after a few minutes rise slightly and feed the young 
beneath her. This latter feeding I should call regurgitation, -while the former 
was not. 
At a nest of the Arizona Hooded Oriole ( Icterus c. nelson/) I saw both birds 
go directly to the nest with fresh food in their bills when the young w r ere only one 
day old. After feeding they left the nest. 
From these few observations of birds which are supposed to regurgitate and do 
