Craig, Expressions of Einotion lu Pigeons. 73 



her time. On the other hand, it is not uncommon for the sitting 

 bird to be unwilling to leave, and for the bird that is due on the nest 

 to paw the sitting bird's back, probe with its bill all around the 

 sitting bird, feeling for the eggs, and finally enter the nest and 

 squeeze the former occupant until at last, slowly and deliberately, 

 it leaves the nest. This happens especially when the eggs have just 

 hatched, for the feeling of the young birds under the breast appar- 

 ently is a greater attraction than the feeling of mere eggs ; and so 

 it often happens that both birds sit at once on the young, crowding 

 each other, and each trying to cover as much as possible of the coveted 

 nestlings. 



That the touch of the eggs or young and of the nest itself give 

 pleasure and satisfaction to the sitting bird, is evident from many 

 highly expressive acts ; such as the manner in which the bird ar- 

 ranges the eggs with its bill, touching them again and again, arrang- 

 ing and re-arranging many times ; from the complacency with w^hich 

 it finally settles down upon them ; and from the absorbed interest it 

 shows in arranging the straws and gently picking at anything about 

 the nest (cf. p. 75.) 



When the male has taken the nest, all is quiet. The sitting bird 

 always makes itself as inconspicuous as possible. Though this useful 

 instinct has lapsed to some extent in the long-domesticated ring-dove, 

 yet even the male of this house-bird rarely coos when on the nest. 

 On this day on which the male cooed 487 times before taking the 

 nest, he did not coo after that for three hours, and then he gave only 

 one series of six coos. The female, after leaving the nest, goes first 

 to breakfast at the seed-cup, after which she flies about the cage, 

 preens her feathers, and busies herself with such small matters. 

 Most of her activities have little interest for the present discussion, 

 but it is worthy of note that she often alights on the edge of the nest- 

 box, and on doing so she often sounds the kah. The female, it 

 would seem, is always somewhat more attached to the nest than is 

 the male. Although the female often uses the kah, she goes but little 

 at any time ; during the four hours I watched this female after her 

 leaving the nest, she sang only once, a series of four coos. 



In the middle of the day, no matter at what stage of the brood 



