506 V.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 237 part i 



but the secondary markings are correspondingly larger and more numerous. 

 In another egg there are two perfect figures of 3 formed on the sides by the second- 

 ary marks, one of them large and singularly symmetrical. The eggs measure 

 respectively .74X.56, .75X.58, .78X.59. 



A. H. Helme (1883) describes the eggs he found slightly differently: 

 "The eggs have a dull white ground with a faint tinge of blue, marked 

 with small spots and lines of brown and black, which tend to form 

 a circle around the larger end. There are also numerous shell mark- 

 ings of a dull lilac color. The eggs measure as foUows: .81X.56, 

 .82X.56, 81X55 [sic]." 



W. G. F. Harris has supplied the follomng description: "This species 

 lays from three to five eggs \nth sets of four most common. The eggs 

 are ovate in shape with a tendency to elongate-ovate, and very little 

 gloss. The ground is very pale bluish-white, or greenish-white; 

 variously marked with spots and blotches of 'cinnamon drab,' 'Natal 

 brown,' 'bone brown,' or 'Mars brown,' with an occasional spot, 

 streak, or even a scrawl of black. Some eggs are very lightly marked, 

 having only a few scattered spots of black or dark brown; others 

 may be quite boldly spotted with dark browns and black, \vith under- 

 tones of drab. There is a general tendency for the markings to 

 concentrate at the large end, but some may be spotted more or 

 less evenly all over. The measurements of 37 eggs average 20.4 by 

 14.8 millimeters; the eggs showing the foiu* extremes measure 22.4 by 

 15.5, 21.0 by 16.0, 18.7 by 14.3, and 20.5 by IJ^.O millimeters." 



Young. — After going into the nest life and care of the young in 

 detail, Mrs. Lawrence (1949) summarizes it as foUows: 



* * * Incubation lasts at least 12 days, probably 14 to 18 days. The female 

 alone incubates and her attentive periods are, as a rule, continuous and long. 

 During the day she leaves the nest a few times for short periods. * * * 



After the young are hatched the female broods them for long periods without 

 help from the male. As the young grow older the brooding time is gradually 

 shortened. In the case of the nesting described in this paper the female practically 

 ceased brooding on the 5th day. It is probable, however, that in very early 

 nestings the brooding is continued considerably longer. 



From the time incubation starts, the male's role becomes exclusively one of 

 provider of food for the family. Thus he practically supports the incubating 

 female by feeding her every 2 to 3 hours. After the young hatch he feeds the 

 young as well as the brooding female. When brooding ceases the male and tlie 

 female share equally in the task of feeding the young. The parents accompany 

 each other foraging and, as a rule, they feed the young at the same time, the male 

 first and the female waiting until the male has finished. 



Apart from the courtship feeding, all feedings of both the female and the young 

 in as well as out of the nest, are done by regurgitation. The feeding of the female 

 both during incubation and while brooding is accompanied by a ritual, consisting 

 of calls and answering food calls on the part of the female which crouches in an 

 attitude of begging while the male feeds her. As soon as the female ceases brood- 

 ing the ritual is also done away with, and the birds' comings and goings at the 



