(491) reminder that this was his final word about the business. This completes the 17th. day of incubation. If we accept the view that the missing egg was disposed of because it was no good, then it is probable that it was the first egg laid. It was due to hatch, tha then, day before yesterday, the 28th. This would make the incubating period for all the eggs 15 days. This, of course, is speculation. 1 P.M. Late in the forenoon there was an almost torrential rain for perhaps a half hour. At about 11:30 I returned to find Brownie on the nest looking pretty well soaked on top. I gave him a worm which he ate himself. A few minutes afterwards I gave him another, which he gave directly to one of the nestlings. I could see it plainly. I roof the nest. I spent about an hour arranging a sort of roof over the nest consisting of a a sheet of about 14 mesh screen glazed with cellulose acetate. This should keep the rain off. Brownie bore very well all clipping and other disturbance; in his immediate vicinity, and towards the end of the operation, Greenie came with a small white grub which she fed to one of the chicks. Both adults then stood on the edge of and removed leaves which had fallen into the the nest, and gazed at their offspring. The young were dry, but the nest parents looked pretty uncomfortable. Greenie took charge and endured the remainder of the roofing job patiently. When B returned, he had some more of the small grubs, to which he added two meal worms contributed by me. These he fed to both young birds. This I saw plainly, owing to changes in the surrounding foliage made necessary in order to place the roof. This is not feeding by regurgitation; the food was brought to the nest in the bills of the parents and not in their crops. After seeing young fed in four thrasher nests (no eggs hatched in the first one) I have yet to see the first regurgi- at the nest. tative movement on the part of a thrasher. It will be noted that is over neither nesting 29 hours from the egg, and that one of them is approximately 5 hours old. (That is, if it was born 24 hours after the first one) They have already begun the scarcely audible "fairy Incubation period is 15 (?) days. Torrential rain. B in nest gets wet. He gives a meal-worm to nestling. I roof the nest. B bears up well. G feeds a grub. Both remove leaves and are wet. Young are dry G shows courage. No regurgi- tative feeding. All feeding is "raw". Fairy chorus begins.