Page:Condor10(2).djvu/20

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74 THE CONDOR VoL. X the rim of the shallow nest. Their eyes were dark and their mouths a dull yellow. When the old birds brought food the young set up a harsh, hoarse call; a sort of scrat, as if something grated. On the afternoon of this same day the male Phainopepla came into a tree near the nest, carrying a white substance about the size of a bean. What it was I could not tell. The female saw him and flew into his tree. Her mate bristled up and as she made a dive at him in an effort to get the morsel he carried, he evaded her and left the tree; nor did he bring it to the nest while I watched. When the young were twelve days old, I first saw them beg for food. On this day, also, they were seen to preen their feathers. Two days later they sat well up in the nest. Their crests were well started being. perhaps, one third their natural hight. As one of them preened his feathers his wing was out- stretched and a light patch was plainly visible on it. The youngsters were, for the most part, quiet, dignified little fellows, but they opened orange lined mouths and begged with a harsh pur- _ ring noise when the old ones were about. My record for June 18th, reads: 9:30, young alone; 9:45, female fed several times, and left; 10:05, female fed; 10:15, female fed each bird two or three times, bringing food from the throat as at first. Male singing near by; young roused up, twitched short tails, and cried "scrat." 10:25, male fed each bird sev- eral times what looked like nightshade; 10:25 ,female came to nest but did not feed tho young begged; 10:50, female fed; 10:58, male fed. Not until nineteen days ?s? 01? PI-IAINOPEPI?A ON SCAMORE~?BOUG}I after I had seen the old birds feed them did the young leave the nest. At eleven A.m., June 23d, while I watched at the nest, one young bird hopped out onto the limb about a foot from the nest, paused a moment, then flew about four feet higher up. In less than a minute the other bird followed his mate up into the tree, both birds keeping up the harsh call. At 11:15 the female came to the empty nest, paused there a moment, then flew up to one of the birds and fed it. Her mate fed the other one in two minutes. In color the young birds resembled their mother; in size they were more like a cedar waxwing. Their eyes were dark, not red like the adults. Shortly after seven o'clock that night I went over to the pepper tree thinking I would see if they were anywhere about. To my astonishment I found them back in the nest. In the short time in which I watched them that night the male came and fed them twice. The next morning at 7:15 I was at the tree. One young bird was still in the nest, the other was about five feet higher up in the tree. While I watched the female came and fed the young in the nest twice, then the other one twice, and