feet as if watching him. 1935 Jan. 1st. Brownie sang a great deal until about 8:30 A.M., at which time he left the oval lawn where he had been singing (Nova being with him) and went off toward the south west apparently to establish contact with another thrasher which had been singing almost con- tinuously there. A few minutes after his departure the two birds could be heard at the same time in the distance. 2 P.M. Rhody has just finished swallowing an English sparrow that I shot for him, so that he might start the New Year with a full stomach. This bird must have been an unusually large one, as Rhody, after spending 15 or 20 minutes in picking off perhaps half of the feathers, succeeded in getting him down only after a series of titanic efforts during which he had to rest frequently and replace the bird on the ground again to regain strength for another effort. Loose feathers stuck to his bill, and when he could not shake them off, he either pushed them off with his foot or wiped his bill on the ground. In the latter operation leaves and litter of various kinds were often added to the collection on his bill, making the situation still worse. When he failed to swallow the bird at one place he would move to another two or three feet away, rest and try again. After about ten or 15 minutes of this, by a last mighty effort he got the bird by the critical point and the rest was just plain swallowing. Once or twice I was quite certain that he had, at last, overestimated his own capabilities. Hawks killed a robin and wounded (or killed) a quail here today. One of them flew about 5 feet in front of my face. All birds shy. Jan. 2nd. B's song not heard until after sunrise. Rhody, about 10 A.M. was waiting for me at the fence. When I showed him a piece of meat,