366 ANNUAL. EEPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 19 30 



Group 1 began building on January 8, and for that day my record 

 reads : 



Seven females came back from tlie forest together bringing green tendrils. 

 Some work at old, some at new sites. The first tendril is attached to the limb 

 skillfully and rapidlJ^ It is put over and under, pulled here and poked there. 

 They work feverishly but definitely. Their heads go over a limb with a tendril 

 and then reach under it to get the end and pull it through. No needleworker 

 could proceed with less hesitation. 



These birds further showed their energy and earnestness by work- 

 ing in the rain. 



On January 9, my journal reads : 



A thoroughly rainy morning, with showers and thunder ; the whole sky over- 

 cast. I see 12 females and 1 male in the field of my 24-power glass. The fe- 

 males are using some fiber and all work furiously, about one half on old sites, 

 the rest on new. There is very little confusion and each bird " sticks to its 

 own knitting." * * * Tliey thrust over and pull under without apparent 

 study and without waiting. Everyone seems to know exactly what she wants 

 to do and goes at it like a master workman absorbed in her task. 



The same concentration and effectiveness was shown by this group 

 throughout the period of construction. On January 22, the entry 

 reads : 



These birds work whole-heartedly with strict attention to business, rarely 

 coming into contact with one another. Sometimes a head appears through a 

 nest bottom pulling vigorouslj' at a fiber here or poking in a loose end there. 

 Postion is a matter of indifference. They work upside down or right side up ; 

 nor do feathers of wings or tail impede their movements. The tail may be 

 bent any way, the wings closed or half-spread. They are intent on only one 

 thing and are not concerned with appearances. 



Compare with these extracts the following, describing the nest- 

 building efforts of birds Nos. 1 and 2 of group 2. We have already 

 seen that these birds devoted five days to discussion of the nest 

 location before work actually began. I quote from my notes: 



January 24, 7.53 a. m. No. 1 returns with short brown fiber but doesn't seem 

 to know what to do with it. After a half -da zed moment she weaves it into 

 foundation * * * ; 9.05, No. 2 returns with a bill full of green tendrils but 

 loses three-fourths of them. No. 1 comes with a bill full of the same kind of 

 material ; they fight and she loses all of it. 



January 25, 8.14 a. m. No. 1 sits with a straw in her bill, motionless until 

 8.23 when she uses it. 



January 29, 8.05 a. m. No, 2 is still trying to form an opening — the doorway — 

 but it will not take shape. She pokes and pulls and weaves but apparently 

 lacks suflficicnt experience to succeed. She can weave but she doesn't seem to 

 know what to weave. 



January 30, 8.30. No nest in group 2 has a completed opening, and only No. 2 

 has attempted to make one. All the facts observed suggest that these are 

 young birds making their first attempt at nest building, in which case their 

 instinct must develop slowly with experience. 



February 7. No. 1 has broken the bottom of her ring and works with wide- 

 spread feet grasping each end of it. No. 2 has deepened her saucer but has not 

 yet a doorway. 



