EASTERN MOCKINGBIRD 303 



rufous" overlaid with a ring of "hazel." Another is heavily capped 

 with "Kaiser brown" over "cinnamon-rufous." 



The measurements of 50 eggs in the United States National Museum 

 average 24.3 by 18.3 millimeters ; the eggs showing the four extremes 

 measure 27.4 by 18.8, 25.9 by 19.8, 22.4 by 17.8, and 24.1 by 17.2 milli- 

 meters.] 



Young. — The incubation period of the mockingbird is variously 

 stated as from 9 to 12 days, but there is very little definite information 

 on the subject; it is probably more than 12 days on the average. 



As we found practically nothing in the literature about the nest life 

 of tliis well-known bird, which was quite surprising, Mr. Bent asked 

 Mr. Frank W. Braund, of Gulfport, Fla., to make some observations 

 on this point and send us some information. Mr. Braund interested 

 various members of the Gulfport Garden and Bird Club in the subject, 

 and they made a number of observations and reported the results. 

 Following are some extracts from Mr. Braund's report : "Of the eight 

 nests under observation, only two records of the male entering the 

 nest to incubate were recorded, and both of these were for a very short 

 duration of time. H. R. Myers reports the female leaving the nest 

 and observing the male fly from a nearby singing perch to the nest 

 and squat in the incubating position. The female reappeared in ap- 

 proximately 2 minutes and drove the male from the nest. F. W. 

 Braund observed a female leave her nest. The male, who had been 

 singing on a nearby perch, flew to the nest and incubated the eggs 

 until the female returned 4 minutes later and drove him off. I have, 

 however, observed the nest and eggs unoccupied by either bird for 

 long periods of time. I do not believe the male makes a practice of 

 incubating when the female leaves the nest exposed. 



"Eobert Fredricks observed a nest on his own property. While 

 working in the vicinity of the nest, located 8 feet up in a Mexican 

 flamevine, both parent birds would appear with grubs in their bills 

 and perch on a close by wire. As long as he remained in the vicinity 

 of the nest the parents made no effort to feed. Wlien he moved away 

 from the nest, one parent would leaVe the perch and feed, the other 

 following to feed when the first parent left." 



F. C. Clayton and Mr. Braund both noted that the young were fed 

 by both sexes ; the latter reports : "I watched for several hours over a 

 period of 10 days through 3x glasses both parents feeding the young 

 in the nest. At times one would be at the nest feeding when the sec- 

 ond parent would appear with food. This latter parent would 

 patiently wait until its mate finished feeding, then fly to the nest to 

 deposit its contribution. 



"Robert Fredricks reports observing the parents feeding a green 

 and brown larva. F. C. Clayton states that the parents follow the 

 rake or the cultivator, picking up crickets, grasshoppers, and grubs, 



