Page:Bird-lore Vol 06.djvu/148

 Red-eyed Vireos. Awake and Asleep

By FRANCIS Hi HERRICK

mm phulvitaphS 1mm nature Ivy m: author

HOUGH commonly shy and retiring. wild birds are not always dif- T ﬁcult to approach. and one is often reminded of their marked individuality by ﬁnding a pair which are comparatively tamer The female. to be sure. usually displays the greater conﬁdence. at least within the magnetic inﬂuence of nest and young.

This was the case with the Red-eyed Vircos. whose nest was discovered by~the sharp eyes of a child four years old. in a maple tree beside a house and close to a wellvttodden path. The child had tnade no mistake. for there on the nest sat the mother-bird. When we saw her half rise to her feet every little while, and with head depressed examine something with eager attention. then we knew there were young birds. for it was the twenty< eighth of June. By the aid of a mirror we were soon watching three little Vireos. which had just emerged from their shells. The old bird would follow closely every movement of the pole. and Hit of? quietly only when the glass nearly touched her head.

For four days the mother brooded almost continuously. She would sit for ten or ﬁfteen minutes. go 05 without a sound. and in a moment return warbling to the twig. bringing a gray caterpillar or a snow-white moth; then we noticed the cocoons and green larvz of insects. spiders. and. later. small dragon-ﬂies. As she hopped along the slender spray and stood erect over her nest. three delicate heads on skinny necks were quickly upraised. trembling like tuning forks, presenting as many yellow targets to the aim of the parent. who tucked deep into the throat of each the destined food. Alter examining and cleaning the nest. brooding was again resumed. Life seemed to move in an orderly routine like clockwork. varied. to be sure. by casual events, such as the approach of the male or a change in the weather. The eyes began to open on the fourth day. when the ﬁrst faint cheeps of the young were audible at a distance of a few feet.