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THE A°UsDsU B°O°N 4B UE ieee 
Care of the Young in the Nest 
The female brooded 45% of the time I watched on the first day, 32% on 
the second and 20% on the third. The mates often greeted each other 
with a soft chatter. The parents’ share in feeding seemed about equal. 
Most of the meals brought were minute, but occasionally there were large 
objects — a cabbage butterfly, a damsel fly, and a crane fly. Only once 
did it appear that both nestlings were fed at one visit. 
On two days I timed with a stop watch the duration of feeding visits. 
On August 2, when the young were judged to be 12 to 18 days old, the 
parents fed 28 times from~7:28-8:28; nine visits lasted 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4,4 
and 16 seconds — the last being decidedly exceptional. The next day from 
6:10-7:10 they fed 55 times; eight visits lasted 1.5, 1.5, Ji5;eio,e252eem 
and 38 seconds. The median time for the first day was 4 seconds, for the 
second 1.75 seconds. 
This is far swifter work than was shown by Song Sparrows (Melospiza 
melodia) in Ohio. One male was watched feeding three broods in 1929 and 
529 of his visits were measured by stop watch. The time decreased con- 
sistently from a median of 86.8 seconds on the third day to 19.3 by the 
sixth, to 18 by the ninth and to 10 on the final (eleventh) day. On this 
last day the parents brought the four young 37 meals an hour during two 
hours (Nice, 1987:1381). 
During the first six days the pewees brought food from 12 to 18 times 
an hour, averaging 15.7; during the last five days they fed from 14 to 55 
times an hour, averaging 29.2. The average for all 15 hours is 20.2. The 
average would have been lower if the nest had been discovered some six 
day earlier. 
A much slower rate was recorded by J. A. Stanford (Kendeigh, 1952: 
111) at a nest of three young Wood Pewees where the female furnished 
90.5% of all meals observed. The nest was watched for 37 hours when 
the nestlings were 0, 2, 3, 9, 11, and 12 days old. The male participated 
only at the sessions at 9 and 12 days. The feeding rate ranged from 2.3 
times an hour at 8 days to 5.5 at 12 days, the average of the six days 
being 4.5. 
Development of the Young 
The young were seen to preen themselves from August 1 to 5. On August 
3 they stretched sideways, on the 4th they stood up and fanned their 
wings, and on the 5th they also stretched both wings up and down, 
scratched their heads, yawned, and pecked at the nest and branch. One of 
them stepped out of the nest at 8:55, but returned at once; at 9:25 it 
again stepped out on the branch and cuddled close to the nest. I left at 
9:34 but returned at 5:52 p.m.; the young were sitting side by side two 
feet from the nest. The next day they were seen close together by friends 
of ours some 10 feet above the nest. On the 7th I found them side by side 
30 feet up in a poplar 35 feet southwest of the bur oak. Two days later 
the parents were caring for them about 100 feet southwest of the nest. 
The Daytime Phrases of the Wood Pewee 
The Wood Pewee characteristically sings phrases 1 and 2 in leisurely 
fashion throughout the daytime hours. Another note, phrase 4, is less 
often heard. 
