Mar. 8th. (Sunrise 6:33, sunset 6:10). 11:20 A.M. So far the morning has been alternately sunny and cloudy. At 9 A.M. Neo was sitting quietly in his nest, which is now deep and well lined, appearing to be completed, although this is not by any means certain. After 9:30 he was not seen there until 11 o'clock, when he was calling loudly for his mate, apparently absent. In any case, she soon came and both ran toward the nest, Neo deflect- ing from his course to get a worm or two before going the rest of the way. At this point I went to watch Rhody, who was going toward his nest after having had a long drink. He stopped at the scattered nesting material which I had placed at his take-off and examined it. (I had forgotten to mention in my yesterday's notes that California sage,"Old man", Artemisia Californica, had also been placed with the other stuff, and ignored in favor of the weed). He gathered a bill- ful of sage and the green weed, but spotted a piece of the dry weed, dropped the rest and took it; but in picking up the latter, either by accident or design, also got some of the sage and a piece of brake two feet long. All of this he took up and stowed carefully inside the nest: a singularly sweet-odored cargo which with the odor from the leaves of the peppermint gum filled the air with fragrance. Rhody has never before been seen to give so much attention to lining a nest with soft material, not to mention stuff so pleasant in odor. Rhody seems to be on downward slope of his "harmonic". This was the only work actually seen during the day. The present "harmonic" appears to be on the down slope. He does not sing at present, even by request, although he still treats mice with full ritual and carries them about for hours. Neo did little work at his nest, although he sat in it oc- casionally again during the afternoon. This may be the "thinking" period referred to in connection with Brownie's nesting. Its pur- pose is not clear. It may be to give the material a permanent "set", or to guard the nest, or to wait for his mate or it may be a mere reflex, as a nest "ought" to be sat in by somebody. Mar. 9th. A day of alternating sun and cloud without rain, but a storm of gale force was reported 600 miles to the southwest this morning, headed this way. There was much confused thrasher singing all forenoon off to the east and the northeast, Neo apparently being one of the perform- ers, for during quiet intervals he sometimes was found sitting in his nest. He seems to be having the same experience with N2 that Brownie did with Nova: difficulty in keeping her on the job. I suspect that there is competition for N2's favors, although when she contributed her mite to the nest, it would seem an indication that she accepted it. It is practically entirely the work of Neo--lining and all-- so far. At 5 P.M. Neo was back in the nest again. For several days it has been his practice to sit in it at about that time. Rhody was not seen to work at his nest at all, although he chose to sit for extended periods a few feet from it on a cross bar which I placed above the fence to facilitate his goings and comings.