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the eggs lasting 30 minutes, her shortest three, while periods off the nest 
lasted seven, seven, and one minute. Her mate was little in evidence and 
hardly sang at all during the hour, but he and wood pewee had a fight in 
the air. Once when the pair had just returned to the nest, another red- 
eye started singing confidently in a black locust 160 feet to the north. “Bur 
Oak” uttered two phrases very loudly, paused, and gave two more. Then 
he dashed for the intruder; there was a sudden silence and my bird re- 
turned home. He had driven off grackles at 100 feet from his nest, thus 
defending a territory of two-thirds of an acre from other species, in con- 
trast to 1.8 acres from his own species. 
On the 20th I could not go to the park. The next day the parents were 
feeding young. He brought food twice from 10 to 11 a.m., she once; she 
brooded for more than 40 minutes. Once a starling alighted within 18 inches 
of the nest and the male drove him off. 
From 6:30 to 7:30 the next morning the father sang only a few phrases. 
He fed once while his mate fed five times, brooding 
after each meal for one to 20 minutes. A squirrel 
traveled along one of the large branches of the 
oak. Two female cowbirds hunted about with a 
male. 
I went to the east of the lagoon to try to find 
the vireo I called “Eastland” that every day crossed 
the water and sang for a while in the Japanese 
garden, always singing at a much more rapid rate 
than did “Bur Oak”; 57 times a minute in contrast 
to 35. I found “Eastland” but no sign of a mate. 
Farther south, however, there was another red- 
eve, singing only in snatches; soon I saw another 
and following them to a hackberry discovered they 
were building a nest! The female worked busily with a weaving motion, 
sometimes for two minutes at a time, sometimes for only a few seconds. 
She usually brought tiny shreds, gathered from a willow 20 yards distant. 
Her mate accompanied her on 15 of her 16 trips during the hour I watched, 
but brought no material; he regularly sang a phrase as they arrived. On 
the one occasion when she had come alone, he flew into a tree Singing 35 
times a minute as if calling her; he stopped short and they left together. 
They had two visitors. A male English sparrow yapped in their hack- 
berry, then came near the nest as if interested in purloining some of the 
material; when the pair arrived, the male chased him off in a hurry. Next 
a female cowbird chattered and approached; the pair drove her off furiously. 
The nest, 10 feet from the ground, might have been started that morning. 
The next morning I made the round of the park, first visiting the nest 
in the hackberry. It was fairly well formed, but no owners appeared in the 
hour I watched. The park was full of young birds — robins, starlings, 
grackles, and a few thrashers — all enjoying the black mulberries. A pair 
of yellow-billed cuckoos gave their curious calls. 
