1389. disturbing sound from a hidden source. In this instance he stood quietly watching while the men walked away, then returned to the cage. At about 2:30 Brownie and Nova were both at the nest, the lat- ter leaving on seeing me, and B coming for worms. The nest, a mere shadow of a platform, can now be seen. It was undoubtedly started today. The first one of last year was started ( or seen to be under way) Feb.2nd. At 3 P.M. Rhody was in the entry to the cage, no doubt wonder- ing why there was no meat there. (The towhees had eaten it). As these notes show, road-runners of my acquaintance get nervous the moment xxx they discover that they are cornered, even by one of their own kind who has, accidentally, strolled into their imme- diate vicinity and narrowed the most promising exit from the cor- er that happens to be occupied. Rhody was not at all nervous when he saw me coming until he realized that he would have to squeeze by me to get out of the three-foot square entry. Then he became frightened, but calmed down when he saw I was not "after" him. I now opened the door to the cage and he went in. I followed and offered him a mouse, which he took at once. The stage was now set for another trial. R5 was present and watching from a roost. in the inner cage. Rhody, without ritual of any kind, went in, glanced at him, dusted (!) and swallowed the mouse, came out cas- ually, strolled about the outer cage, walked calmly out the door and then climbed up to nest 4-36 without taking anything with him. R5 came out to watch him depart. So, now what is the sex of R5? My guess still is that "he" is a yearling with reproductive instincts as yet unaroused. Rhody now rested in various places nearby until 4:15, when he trotted off along the lower road headed for his roost, and looking from the rear like a little drum-major with black bear-skin shako crowning a head, which, in his case, seems to be filled with a tangle of uncoordinated impulses and vague, unsatisfied desires, at this season. I would be willing to wager that he is more at sea concerning R5 than I am! In the morning he courted that bird perfervidly; in the after- oon he studiously ignored him under conditions ideal for court- ship. February 22nd. A fine warm day. At 7:15 Rhody was on the Scamell back porch, and from Mrs. Scamell's account, must have been in one of his fits of "wooden abstraction", for he permitted members of the family to walk up to him and stand over him without moving, all feathers closely pressed to his body. They were astonished to see how small he is at close range. (The same phenomenon again). They argued as to whether it could be Rhody or some other bird. During the day R was seen to work on both nests, only once on each. He loafed about practically all day. Once I got him into the cage with R5, with a mouse, but he paid not the slightest attention to that bird, who was in plain sight of him. In fact R had been watching him from outside the cage. R took the mouse away from the cage, wandered off toward 2-36 and sta quietly on the ground for a half hour (when I left) holding the mouse in his bill and hrooing softly at long intervals. About 3 P.M. I gave him another one, just outside the cage. This he offered to R5, from outside, earnestly, but only after he had been carrying it elsewhere for 15 minutes. He then carried it over the north fence, sat on the ground with it, as before, then