(276) After giving the matter consideration I decided to ask the Fish and Game Commission for a permit to keep the three young thrashers in captivity in order to have them under further obser- vation. Accordingly I went to their offices in San Francisco and permission was readily granted. On my return at about 11:15 I went directly to the nest, finding Brownie sitting in it, and for some reason not overly friendly, opening her bill at me in a rather hostile manner. I offered her a worm and she snatched it ungratefully, giving it to the youngster whose head was projecting on my side of the nest. This was repeated several times, so I decided to investigate what lay back of her incivility and incidentally see if all the young birds were present. As I extended my hand to raise her from the nest she seized a finger, bit as hard as she could and tried to shake it. She did not peck me and her bill is not of much use for biting . There was only one nestling present. Why she should have been ill-tempered I do not know, but evidently my intrusion at this particular time was unwelcome. A search was organized for the missing birds. Instead of waiting for the parents to come for food and thus reveal their location, we looked for Greenie, since he was sure to "scrip" sooner immediate or later. Sure enough, he was soon hāmīj, and in his neighborhood one of the youngsters was seen sitting in the lower branches of a pine about 100 feet from the nest. This little fellow was picked off as easily as a plum. He did not shrink, struggle or cry out and ac- cepted soft food at once with comfortable chuckles. He was put temporarily in a cage in the middle of the oval lawn and settled down for a nap: So that he would not be lonesome I went and got his nest- mate out from under the sulky Brownie, giving her a worm in payment, which she snatched as before. I reached over her back on the far side of her and as she was watching my face (or so it seemed) I do not think she saw me take it. Anyway, she remained in the empty nest for nearly