Page:The British Warblers A History with Problems of Their Lives - 2 of 9.djvu/40

 The young are hatched about the first week in June. Both parents take part in the feeding, but of the two the female is far the more industrious, the male helping, if at all, very little, but keeping instead a jealous eye on any intruder, allowing his suspicions to be allayed only with the greatest difficulty. Owing to the position of the nest, it is often most difficult to get sufficiently concealed to allow the parent birds to feed their offspring and clean the nest perfectly naturally; and in order to obtain accurate knowledge of the mysteries of their nursery, especially with regard to certain problems relating to the order of feeding the young, the actual food that is brought, the condition in which it is delivered to the young, and the possibility of different food being supplied by the male and female respectively, it is necessary to be within a few feet of the nest. For instance, if the female cannot overcome her suspicion of you she will not feed naturally, her whole aim, under such circumstances, being to get rid of the food. This, then, is the difficulty, and can only be overcome—and this by no means always—with considerable patience. In this endeavour the dome-shaped nest adds largely to these difficulties. When the young are first hatched the female appears to be very excited, darting backwards and forwards round the nest: the male, taking advantage of her light-heartedness, pursues her and plays with her after his manner in the air. The care of the young is no great labour to her at first, but it increases daily, until it becomes a matter of some difficulty for her to keep them fully supplied with food.

Each day the brooding of the offspring becomes of less, and the food supply of more consequence, yet the male never seems to think that his services are really required, feeding the young only occasionally as it suits him. I have, however, seen him bringing food to the female when brooding early in the morning, and when doing so he would sing quietly right up to the nest itself. On the other hand, she commences to feed