Page:Condor18(3).djvu/35

 May, 1916 NESTING OB THE TOLMIE WARBLER 125 minutes. On this particular day, too, the .male Tolmie Warbler was frequently seen flitting about in the brush in company with the female. On the 19th, however, conditions were changed, the female again keeping close to the nest most of the time. The following day I made two unsuccessful attempts at photographing the nest and eggs. While getting ready to make one exposure at a distance of six-feet, which was as close as my kodak would allow, the Tolmie seemed to be trying to make up her mind to return to the nest, and I waited quietly to see what would happen. She kept hopping about on the ground nearby, eyeing me closely, and finally perched within six inches of her home, but would come no closer while I was in sight. A few days later, after two of the eggs had hatched, another attempt at photography gave better results. Repeated visits up to June 23, usually made while the female was absent, showed conditions unchanged. On this date, however, I had an idea that the eggs must surely be ready to hatch, so my first thought in the morning was to visit the nest. As I came near the chokecherry patch I discovered the female hopping about in an oak tree nearby. Gently pushing aside an overhanging branch I looked into the nest and found that, as I had hoped, it held two nestlings, with scarcely a trace of down on them. The motion I had caused. in pushing aside the obstructing branch had been felt in the nest, and imme- diately one of the young birds raised its head and instinctively opened wide its mouth to be fed. Observation made the following morning diSCovered the pare.nt bird absent, and the third egg hatched. Growth in the first two birds had been quite perceptible. They were, on this day, about two inches in length and about the same in stretch of wings. They were now scantily covered with down, a patch showing on top of the head, a line down the middle of the back, and a tuft on the wings. A noon visit disclosed the mother bird brood- ing. She eyed me as I crept slowly closer, and did not leave until I was within a foot and a half. A pushing aside of the overhanging branch to see if the fourth egg was hatched, produced the automatic opening of the three hungry mouths. The next two days' observations were confined to brief inspections on the morning of June 25 and on the evening of June 26. The two visits showed no marked change in conditions, but brought me to the conclusion that the fourth egg was infertile. On June 27 I spent an hour during the morning timing the feeding of the three young birds, from a point about twelve feet distant. I found that the female warbler came with food at intervals of from three to five minutes throughout the hour. During this period the male bird came to the nest only once. My place of observation was too far away to warrant any statement con- cerning the kind of food brought to the young, other than that it consisted of insects. The condition of the young birds on June 27, the fourth day after the hatching of the first two (the development being practically the same in all three) was as follows. Juvenal feathers had appeared over most of the head, down the center of the back, and on the wings. The eyes of one bird were open. On the following day the eyes of the second bird were open. Dis- turbance of the branches above th nest produced the usual effect of opened mouths. On this day the male bird was noted, for the second time, bearing