A RARE BIRD. 207 



the tree. For a time I felt as if no nests could 

 come to anything ; the number that had been 

 destroyed during the season was disheartening. 

 It seemed as though I no sooner got interested 

 in a little family than its home was broken up. 

 Sometimes I wondered how a bird ever had cour- 

 age to start a nest. 



But though it was hard to reconcile myself to 

 the destruction of the phainopeplas' nest, I found 

 others later. Altogether, I saw three pairs of 

 birds building, and in each case the male was 

 doing most of the work. Two of the nests I 

 watched closely, watch and note-book in hand, in 

 order to determine the exact proportion of work 

 done by each bird. One nest was watched two 

 hours and a half, during a period of five days, in 

 which time the male went to the nest twenty- 

 seven times, the female, only three. The other 

 nest was watched seven hours and thirty-five min- 

 utes, during a period of ten days, in which time 

 the male was at the nest fifty-seven times ; the 

 female, only eight. Taking the total for the two 

 nests : in ten hours and five minutes the male went 

 to the nest eighty-four times ; the female, eleven. 

 That is to say, the females made only thirteen per 

 cent of the visits. In reality, although they went 

 to the nest eleven times, the ratio of work might 

 safely be reduced still further ; for in watching 

 them I was convinced that, as a rule, they came 

 to the nest, not to build, but to inspect the build- 



