1455 The car parked 20 feet away in the road. I induced R to come back. He tolerated K's getting out, but bolted when E appeared. He went back to inspect the magpies. I suggested to the visitors that they get back into the car and he would come back; and so he did, taking the mouse to show it at a hub-cap. Here he was disappointed because the cap was not nickeled. In looking for a suitable place he climbed into the car, but shot out on discovering the occupants. He then wandered off, presumably en route to the roost tree. R's tail moult. In watching R's display for the magpies it was noted that the only missing rectrix came from the right hand side and it is not the one next to the middle pair, but the next shorter one. Reference to the diagram made of R's remaining tail feathers after he had lost 7 last shows that the moulted feather is one of the three old ones. May 19th. Rhody was found working hard at nest 8-37 at 10 A.M. At 11 A.M. he came down and followed for a mouse. Ceremony followed. Route covered included mirror, roof of observatory, kitchen chimney, patio and a bench at the oval lawn that he has begun to favor as a resting and preening place. The mouse was disposed of somewhere before he appeared at the bench. As the 12 o'clock whistles were blowing R reversed human procedure and went back to work, but at 1 P.M. was back in the vicinity of the cage doing the usual things. I was absent much of the afternoon, but R was seen a few times doing the usual things, though not best-building. May 20th. Rhody about as usual. I was away several hours during the day. About 5:15, R who had been spending a lot of time in the inner cage, was given a mouse in the presence of a visitor (K.H.D.). The mouse was taken to the roost tree, arriving at about 6 P.M. Thrashers at Mr. Sampson's I have been visiting the young thrashers once each day and giving them one feeding of soft food. The larger bird has taken it freely, but the smaller has more often than not refused. He is more timid. The parents have scolded when I have been at the nest, but sometimes have withdrawn and kept quiet. About 11 A.M. today I found the nest, much to my surprise, empty; I had not thought the chicks old enough to leave. (Curiously also, unlike other nests of thrashers, the fairy chorus had not been heard from this brood). While I do not know their age, the birds seemed too immature to leave. After fifteen or twenty minutes the parents appeared and seemed little disturbed by presence in the vicinity of the nest. In fact, as long as I did not compel them to come out of the bushes to get them, they took worms tossed to them. Naturally I watched to see what they did with them. They carried them about as if hunting for their brood, then finally ate them. From this I assumed, erroneously as it developed, that the youngsters were no more and left that part of the garden. A last look at about 11:30 showed one of the youngsters running across some stone steps leading up to the upper garden, followed by a parent carrying some of the worms