am only playing with the birds. However, off hand, it will be study of the effect of better seen that the personal characteristics, (or what might be called the personal constants) of the particular bird and the particular man concerned, such as pitch of voices for example, might lead to some curious disclosures. One can imagine bird A responding only to man A, but bird B not being affected by him, or by women only, etc, etc in infinite permutations and combinations. Brownie's siestas. I had forgotten to check up on Brownie's habit, noted last year during thrasher convention season, of retiring to his night roost for longish periods at odd times during the day to recover from the nervous strain incident to his activities as head of the reception committee for this territory. (Or perhaps it was to think over his next speech or reflect upon the new ideas just received from delegates, or prepare a political coup). I thought of it today and when about 11 A.M. I heard him call melodiously: B follows last year's pattern. and then subside, I went out to look. Sure enough, there he was comfortably ensconced in his old night roost in the dormitory tree sitting under his roof over the nest site behind the screen. He was not interested in me at all, or anything else outside his retreat. All he wanted was to be left alone to think it over or snooze, whichever he elected. A phrase of B's unrecorded. Brownie has a phrase heard first year and again this, which I think I have not recorded as yet, and which is often heard: Pa-teet, woo-ay-verr, pa-teet, woo-ay-ver. (The ay as in hay). I think it can be recognised by anyone from this description, as he says it rather plainly. The Road-runner's cuckoo" tail. In looking at a colored picture of the yellow-billed cuckoo showing its tail from below, in Birds of Minnesota (?)