1632. Rhody seems to be getting more touchy about birds (and rab- bits)in his immediate nest area. Perhaps also he is becoming more crabbed with age and disappointment in his love life. Anyway, he certainly is stirring up other birds more now than formerly, al- though this action seems to be confined to the immediate surround- igs of his house-nest in the gum tree--say not beyond a radius of 25 yards, more or less, with it as a center. Maybe it is only his idea of fun. 12:15.Rhody has had another episode. He stalked one of the young thrashers for about 50 feet to the sage-patch and then left him in order to make a dash at Neo digging a few yards away. Neo fled at first, but suddenly turned and faced Rhody and flew into his face. R turned and ran into the glade, stopped three or four yards away, began to examine the ground while he was menaced by towhees and picked up half an eggshell only to drop it. This shell appeared to be from a thrasher egg. (See 4th. paragraph below). Next Rhody gathered a sheaf of pine-needles and carried them to his house. About 1:20 he was preening near the nest-tree3-38 and I presented him with a Jerusalem cricket. This brought forth immediate full ritual: bows, tail-wags, hroos and also coot-coots, apparent- ly for my benefit; for he directed it toward me at less than three feet distance, circumbulating me in the process. His crest was raised to the utmost and his skin-patch fully displayed. (The orange on this is still rather dull). The cricket was taken up to nest 3-36 and consumed. Work on the inside of the nest followed. By 2 o'clock he was outside this window after searching t through the rhododendrons and azaleas flirting his wings in the "liz- ard gesture". Quail, brown towhees, spotted towhees, bushtits, a house wren were all disturbed by him. He searched in all corners of the court, looked into various windows opening into it and then came to stand near me to preen with elaborate show of unconscious- ness of my presence. I knew what this this meant; so went to the tool-house and verified my deductions. Meanwhile I had called Julio to come to me while R was with me, to see if the bird would perform his new act with wahnks, but he did not. I should have stated that, when Rhody was in the glade portion of his 12:15 episode, he crouched and wahnked. This may have some significance when considered with his doing this for Julio. Weak was given cut-up worms several times more during the afternoon and seemed somewhat improved. (I shall be absent for several days). May 19th. to 22nd., incl. I got home about 9 P.M. on the 22nd. and learned from Julio that the two young thrashers had not been seen during my absence and that the thrasher nest had been robbed of its two young, one egg being left. Neo and N2 had deserted the nest and this place and had apparently gone to the east. Also the four young chicks in the nest of the lutescent warbler (just hatched) had also disappeared. Jays had been present and he had caught a large alligator lizard and a fair-sized gopher snake. Further, Rhody had pulled the tail out of a brown towhee! Quite enough! J said, also, that Rhody had ceased to wankh and crawl when in his presence.