592. Talk taking articulate form. They are doing quite a bit of talking to each other now, when they meet at the nest or elsewhere, and it consists largely of melodious song phrases, such as have been already recorded; for example: Pit-yourki, tork-peelya, tor-keeta, wee-ou-hickey, etc. This seems to presage active courtship at an early date and, by precedent, accompanies the final stages of building a nest. B comes to nest to observe me. At 5:30 I went up on the platform--no birds there or in sight. However, Brownie climbed up in a minute or so--true to past form--settled in the nest and looked at me fixedly as if to say: "Well, what are you going to do about it?" I have always felt that this action of his was for the purpose of keeping an eye on me as a portion of his duties in defending his home. This time I handed him soap-root fibre, which he accepted after some hesitation and put in the nest. It seemed to me that his hesitancy arose from the fact that he was there, not for building, but for guarding, and he needed time to readjust himself to the unexpected--the unforeseen. Courting(?) About 6 I found them near the north boundary somewhat mildly flirtaceous. At 6 B went up to his accustomed place in the dormitory tree, followed by Greenie, at 6:03, going to her place in the same tree, about 6 feet from her mate. The pattern is taking form. Accepts lining from me. G eats contents of an acorn. Once during the afternoon, Greenie was pretending to be busy near my feet--but really waiting for an invitation to have a worm, which unfortunately I did not have--a rare occurrence--when she discovered a cracked acorn. She hammered it vigorously on the ground and ate its contents after breaking them up--adding another known food to the thrasher menu. Crippled Varied Thrush. (I caught a beautiful Varied Thrush that had hurt its wing and was unable to fly. It made no outcry and did not struggle after I caught it. It was in full plumage and seemed in good shape, with the exception noted. I shall turn it over to Mr. Brock, as it will be a cat or hawk victim here. I put it in a cage temporarily, with suitable food and water. It fluttered for a few moments and was then quiet. When I put a bath dish in, it pecked it angrily).