955. carried it to the nest and placed it carefully. Rhody, of course. I left him at about 12:30 still working. Nothing was seen of Sta. 4. Circe. This is now Sta. 4 and the third nest on which he has been seen to work. (?????????). Distance from here as the crow flies: about 500 yards; almost exactly N.E., on SW side of Dimond Canyon. A secluded spot but unfortunately without protection from prowling youngsters looking for nests or something to kill, and vacation time approaching! R comes home. At about 4:15 I was in the magpie cage watching the nesting operations of those birds. Rhody stalked in to the outer compart- ment and gobbled his Hamburger beef, then went outside to sit under the trees as if for a long stay. He was not observed further owing to unexpected actions of the magpies' and an impending engagement of my own elsewhere for the rest of the day. Magpies. By observing the act of copulation yesterday, the smaller bird, "Kack", as has been suspected from the first, is now identified as a female and the larger,"Oof", as the male. Copulation is a noisy operation. A Puzzling Incident. About 4:30, I in the cage, Oof carrying a cashew nut about, Kack looking at the nest and occasionally touching it with her bill gently; everything quiet, Rhody "resting" outside: Kack moved to a perch and displayed, seeming to invite Oof's attention; he alighted beside her and raised both wings. She seem- ed seized with vertigo, fell over backward and hung from the perch by one foot, tried to recover, lost her grip, but hung on by her chin, fluttering wildly, without vocal sound, nictitating membrane oscillating. She fell to the ground, wings useless, lay gasping on her belly, wings extended, tail spread, seeming to be in a fit. Oof dropped down to her and fanned above here with his wings, standing to one side. Kack tried to get up and fly, but could not.