from the distaff side of the family. They are inclined to crouch down in the nest and scold me, even when Brownie is hovering them and fre- quently refuse to take food from the feeder, though I do not offer it often. In this connection, it occurs to me that the tapering off in the food supply may be done deliberately, analogous to weaning in mammals, (that is; if the supply is actually being decreased); the object being to prepare the young to leave the nest and take care of themselves. No action on the part of the parents has as yet been witnessed that could with certainty be interpreted as an inducement to the nestlings to leave, in connection with any brood. At 7:40 P.M. neither adult was at the nest, but Nova could be heard in the direction of the glade. About 7:45 Brownie appeared, came to me where I sat, ate a few worms, then took the huge quantity of two to the nest. He did not re- turn, so in a few minutes I went to the nest and found the young still unattended and nobody came, though I stood there a minute or so. On going to the dormitory tree at 8:50, Brownie was discovered sitting quietly in his old place, evidently finished with household cares for the day. It is curious, and on the face of it, it looks inconsistent, that he should keep such close watch over them during the day, only to abandon them (apparently) during the night, when it would seem that they are most in need of protection, especially against falling temper- at ure. (Temp., 8:10 P.M.:62). Possibly this is part of the preliminaries incident to "weaning". Or perhaps he relies upon Nova to do the needful. I shall go out shortly and see if she has taken over the job, at the risk of disturbing, as she is so flighty. 8:25. Although I knew exactly where to look for Brownie, he was very hard to find, as he looks exactly like the dead leaves that accumulate in these trees. However, I saw his head and breast at last,