1264 rather indifferent, the bird somewhat alert but not evidently frightened. Both retired with dignity, R to a tree behind me and the dog (a stranger to me) as is his master) to his garage. When I went over to talk to Rhody the dog again came out, stood beside me and looked on only to retire again disinterestedly. The whole affair was so void of animosity on the one hand and fear on the other, that I wonder if these two creatures have not introduced themselves at some earlier meeting and reached some basis of mutual tolerance. My presence, of course, may have had some restraining effect upon the dog and--though less probably--some moral effect upon the bird. R elects mice and disregards violent internal tumult. About 4 P.M. Rhody followed to the shop-yard for his mouse. He was more than usually careless with this one and there was a violent commotion in his "innards" when the mouse struck bottom. Rhody seemed absolutely indifferent to this disturbance. He must be lined with boiler-plate. The feathers of neck and breast were strongly agitated. September 25th. R now forages in field to south. Rhody's morning foraging was done in the field to the south. The tendency to use this field in the mornings now appears to be increasing. I gave him a very small mouse there--the only one he had during the day. Thereafter he preferred meat. R, when full, gets careless with a lizard. About 3:30 P.M., he having just filled up on meat, a lizard was offered him where he sat on top of the lath house. He brought it down to the ground, laid it down and began walking around it waiting for it to come out of its trance and run. The lizard showed no disposition to bolt, so Rhody took advantage of the interval of repose to do some preening. The lizard chose this time to pass out of the picture and into a clump of bamboo with such suddenness and speed that Rhody was unable to gather his wits together in time to enable him to overhaul the reptile. Consequently, although he was now intensely interested and searched diligently he was unable to recapture his prey, and I could not find it for him. R now re-exhibits a peculiar road-runner trait. Rhody now, once again, as has been previously recorded of him and of Terry and Archie, exhibited that peculiar trait which impels him, on occasions such as this, to ignore the place where the escaped creature was last seen and go back and search at, or near the point where it was first observed. Thus Rhody now went inside the lath house where he could look up at the under side of the roof, for it was by reaching down through the roof of spaced laths and pulling the lizard out from under it, that he had caught it. B and Nova. During the day Brownie sang often, Nova being usually not far away. There was no further evidence of his nesting impulse. September 26th. B's talk once more deceives me. At about 8:15 A.M. Brownie, who had been singing much since 6 A.M. or earlier, was working at the oval lawn, but came promptly to perch on my knee, eat worms and "talk". Nova could not be seen or heard. Again, despite earlier experience, I suspected the talk was for my benefit, but as before, it was for Nova. He was merely keeping in touch, as was proved by her coming out on to the lawn in a few moments. B renews "nesting". Brownie now renewed his nesting behavior and began to carry