1331 R5's fear of me decreasing (?) R5 has just had his second dead house mouse of the day. He is not afraid now to move about in the upper annex in my presence, making saucy (perhaps involuntary) gestures with head and tail and looking at me from various angles, first with one eye and then with the other, lowering his head below his feet if necessary to get a good look. This behavior gives one the impression of friend- liness, though I doubt if that is its real import; rather that it is still inspired by fear but of lessened intensity than that which first possessed him. In other words: His fear of me is not now so strong that it impels him to remain absolutely motionless as a measure of protection by concealment. Coldest morning. December 29th. (Sunrise 7:25, sunset 4:59, sun rising clear. Min. temp. in court last night 36- the lowest of the season so far). B singing. Early song by Brownie--more in the nature of detached calls. R up early. At 9:45 A.M., as I approached the Clearing, Rhody rattled his beak from an unseen location. There was no voice sound ac- companying it. I could not locate him at all until he came out into the open. (Temp. in court 40, in Clearing 48). He was, of course, sunning his back in the "open" pose and did not alter it as he caught the worms tossed to him. It is to be noted that he is getting up earlier recently. R5 had already eaten his first dead mouse of the day. (Julio captured 4 last night). Later in the day he had another dead one and a live one. Salamanders put in his can were not touched. I sat in the cage for a half hour. After a few minutes he moved to a lower perch where he could see me and stayed there as long as I was in the cage, "semi-thawed". At 1:30 Rhody was not at his post, nor was he in the clearing After a few minutes' search I returned to the clearing, finding he had come there and was waiting--apparently for me--as he seems to have solved my middle of the day food--mouse--Clearing pattern, and is able to forecast its culmination without following it through in detail, just as he did the food-mouse pattern based on going to the shop-yard at any time of the day when he was hungry. He was offered the choice of meat or mouse, choosing mouse. A half hour later, at his post, he was ready for the meat, making one faint whine barely audible at 3 feet. (56 in Clearing, 48 in sunny, calm). His roosting time was not observed . December 30th. (Sunrise and sunset as yesterday). Rain during the night and forenoon. Brownie singing about 8 A.M. At 10 A.M., in a torrential downpour, I stopped in my car at Rhody's night roosting tree. He was snugly tucked away in his house, well protected from the rain. (No wind). At 11:20 he was still there (no rain) not showing any inclination to come down. R5 had had one fresh dead mouse, but had not eaten the live salamander. (JTA never did)