April 24th. 9:40 A.M. Unless Rhody knows something that I do not, such, for instance, as where he can pick up a mate any time he feels like it, or that his attractive powers are such that no effort on his part is necessary to cause one to come to him voluntarily wherever he may be, present indications are that, as in the case of the Carthaginians at Capua, the luxuries of an easy life are insidiously sapping his ambitions and he no longer has the pep to take the field aggressively. While he still continues to perform his courting actions, he no longer captures his own mice, lizards, etc. as love-tokens.(He wants them handed to him). Perhaps worst of all is his substitution of Hamburger steak from a dish for wild game captured in the fields on his own resource and initiative. In this respect, of course, my influence has been bad, but I would like to see him do something for himself like a man-roadrunner. About 8:30 he was going through his evolutions at the mirror with Hamburger. At 9:05 he accepted gratefully a young white rat, which he proffered to his image. (He is becoming a Geococcyxice- morphist!). After a few wanderings, never more than 30 yards from the cage, including ascent to the top of an oak, he strrolled in the direction of 2-36, displaying every few feet, and finally went up to the nest itself. There, I suppose, to lie and digest. I have developed a rat-roadrunner economic process that is working out well at present. I feed household scraps to two fe- male white rats. These bear young at short intervals. (24 in the last week). The only problem is to coordinate the production rate with Rhody's appetite and throat caliber, since the size of rat he can swallow has its limits and he will not eat more than just so many. It will be seen that, if Rhody should propagate success- fully, I have within my reach a method of converting economic waste into roadrunners, and at the same time change unacceptable food in acceptable. (The order should be reversed). History is repeating itself with Brownie and his brood. About 10:30. with Brownie on the nest, I discovered the two young thrash- ers at the oval lawn. By the usual device of tossing worms so that they would have to approach closer and closer to get them, I soon had them both beside me taking worms tossed to them 2 or 3 feet away and not alarmed by the tossing movement. They are now, both big and strong, though one is larger than the other. The larger was more enterprising and soon the smaller was begging him for food. He allowed the latter to take half of a worm which he held in his bill and then all of it without resisting. Soon both would have been eating from hand. But Brownie came and knocked over first one and then the other, not very roughly, although it sounds so. B then ate the worms I gave him, turning occasionally to attack mildly one bird after the other, feintingly. Both re- sisted spiritedly and each in turn gained a victory over Brownie, each driving him from the field. Nobody was hurt and neither young ster gave ground or left. Brownie next alternately fed and shadow- boxed with each bird, finally giving them both a good feed and left. By this time their wants were satisfied and they drifted away. Again we see the preliminary training in self-reliance, to be followed in due course by less gentle treatment and eventual ejection from the premises with meanful blows and unrelenting pursuit. We also see Brownie, again, first as an aid in establishing contact with his offspring and as a hindrance in maintaining it Rhody, with his precious mouse, remained in 2-36 for only a