910 At 1 P.M. there was still a bird in the nest. At no time today has the nest been seen empty. This looks like an egg. At about 3:30 still a bird in the nest. At about 4:10, Mr. Engels and I standing near the dormitory tree, Nova, in the nest, suddenly called in her typical high-pitched musical phrases. (The only thrasher I know that uses so high a pitch. It is peculiar to her). A short time before I had commented on her growing restlessness. Brownie at once answered from the glade, but did not follow the hitherto invariable custom of coming promptly to relief if within sound of the calling mate. In fact he continued to mess about indifferently in the glade even after Nova had left First thrasher egg of 1935. the nest two or three minutes after calling. I went up to the nest and discovered the first egg of the season. As timed by Mr. Engels, 24 minutes elapsed (an unheard of interval of time) before the egg was again covered, and by Nova herself. B joined her at the nest in three or four minutes and took over the work of incubation. I can not account satisfactorily for this variation from standard pattern. It is strange also that they should have abandoned nest 10 and used 9 instead. Perhaps they will use 10 for the next one. March 7th. A lot of song by Brownie, spaced at wide intervals. Probably the silent periods represented in part occupancy of the nest by him. At 9:30 he was at the oval lawn singing and when I appeared on the scene, came for worms uttering the first two notes of his A song: pur'-ple. I took this to indicate that he would probably, in his next full song, introduce his A song (or whistled bugle call). Nova, on the nest, called loudly in her characteristic high soprano, a few minutes later: "Tuck, tuck, ka-deel, ka-deel, ka-deel, ka-deel, ka-deel"; an unusual repetition. B answered from the old oak at once with his A song, but did not show up at the nest for 5 minutes. Nova stayed there until he came, then slipped out