6 Tt Hoe A U-D°U BiO°wN® B.D Leber 
he frequently raised his body but later settled deeper in the nest and 
became more quiet. He stayed there, facing northwest, for fourteen 
minutes. 
8:28 — The male left, to go to the blackberry briers, and the female 
came ‘“‘churring” to the nest with a pale green caterpillar. She fed the 
young, examined the nest and left; then there was a brief song from her 
mate. 
8:32 — When I touched the young I was scolded — or they were 
warned—by a rapid chee, chee, chee or chur, chur, chur, (etc.), from 
one parent. 
8:34 — Observer departed. 
In the previous watches it had been noted that both parents took part 
in incubating the eggs, and in brooding and feeding the young. During 
this hour and forty-four minutes of watching, the young were fed seven 
(or possibly eight) times, mainly with smooth caterpillars; they were 
examined on four occasions without being fed, and were twice brooded. 
The male did not seem to “chur” during this watch. Both birds stood at 
the forked side of the nest, on one branchlet or the other (never on the 
unsupported edge), to inspect or to feed. 
The voices of various neighbors penetrated the hidden sphere of vireo 
affairs this Sunday morning. House wrens were singing across the road; 
a wren came up behind me to investigate. Human neighbors, children and 
parents at a shanty perhaps a hundred yards away, were yelling at each 
other in angry tones. Then there were peaceful sounds: the puffing of a 
locomotive, the bell of a church, the delightful strains of a field sparrow 
singing in the distance. A yellow-throat sang frequently. Occasionally a 
song sparrow tuned in his diminutive organ. For a few minutes the notes 
of a Traill’s flycatcher came to me from farther west. A catbird mewed 
and a goldfinch flew over singing his traveler’s song. 
I did not return until a week later. The nestlings were then dead, 
their bodies infested with maggots. The nest was swarming with mites. 
No vireos were anywhere to be seen or heard; nor was there any definite 
clue as to what had happened. | 
NEST 
Situation: Nest number one was about two feet from the ground, in 
a raspberry patch at the edge of an old apple orchard. Number two was 
two and a half feet from the ground, in a haw bush at the edge of a 
brier patch. Number three was three feet from the ground, exceedingly 
well hidden, in a bushy wild crab, in a narrow but dense thicket. 
Structure and Lining: Nest number two was composed of bark shreds, 
plant fibers, numerous thin, paperlike dried leaves, and some bits of news- 
paper; lined with fine grass stems and a very few coarse hairs. Nest 
number three was constructed principally of weed shreds and fibers, but 
included several old dead leaves and numerous bits of newspaper among 
the decorations. The lining was of fine plant stems about the size of 
horsehair together with two or three long blackish horsehairs. The Y-fork 
in which the nest was hung was near the end of a branchlet, the arms of 
the fork being about one-eighth inch in diameter. 
