198 HOMING WITH THE BIRDS 



cubation it is scarcely heard from the female 

 except in time of alarm, as its utterance would 

 attract attention to the nest location. When the 

 young are hatched and both the elders are busy 

 gathering food a period of greatest anxiety ensues, 

 and the call and answer pass between the parents 

 with almost clock-like regularity. This serves the 

 double purpose of letting the pair know of the 

 safety of each other and the young that they have 

 not been deserted. 



In no case in my experience with the birds have 

 I ever heard this call given with such frequency 

 and precision as by a pair of chewinks. For two 

 days before the young left the nest, my camera 

 was focused on their location. The old birds went 

 before it from the first, without the slightest hesi- 

 tation. There was a long hose attached; I was 

 hidden in a near-by thicket. As a protection from 

 swarms of mosquitoes, I covered myself with a 

 long cravenette, matching the shade of the dead 

 leaves under foot, so that it concealed me entirely 

 and fitted into the surroundings perfectly. Those 

 birds hunted altogether on the ground; their use 

 of the tribal call was regular and frequent. Four 

 and five times to the minute, by my watch, came 

 the question of the female: "Che-wink?" and the 

 immediate answer of the male: "Che-wee." 



If for any reason the male was slow in answering, 

 a change could be detected instantly in the tone 

 of the female. Her call was a degree sharper, 



