I06 Palmer, The Florida (hound Otvl. \k£k 



by the hillock of usually white sand at one side, the first seen of 

 its occupants was the upper part of the head of one bird intently 

 gazing in our direction. Upon a nearer approach a second head 

 appeared at the burrow side of the first watcher while he moved 

 up a little higher. Getting nearer they would move up more and 

 more, when suddenly the first one, the male, would fly off for per- 

 haps thirty yards. The female would remain a little longer and 

 would sometimes run out of the tunnel and take a position facing 

 us on the opposite side. If we remained stationary both birds 

 would continue together, watching us intently as long as we stood 

 unmoved, but it was always the first watcher that showed the 

 most discretion by putting distance between himself and us upon 

 our closer approach. In whichever direction they alighted they 

 would instantly turn and, facing us, bow with the utmost gravity 

 once or several times, as has been well told by Mr. Rhoads in his 

 paper. If followed and flushed they usually returned to the 

 burrow or some other, but rarely re-entered them unless wounded. 

 In one instance a bird seeing the struggles of its mate flew directly 

 into the burrow and disappeared, but an hour afterwards was found 

 again on watch. A few of the male birds becoming alarmed would 

 fly off into the palmettoes and hide, hence we collected more 

 female than male birds. We saw no birds at work ; possibly the 

 female excavates the burrow while the male removes the accumu- 

 lation of sand to the hillock. I doubt if any work is done while 

 the sun is high. 



That the males watch all day in the tunnels is perhaps shown 

 by a comparison of the plumage of the sexes. Laying my series 

 of skins in two rows, backs up, each row containing but one sex, 

 it is noticeable at once that the females are much darker than the 

 males (sepia brown 1 ) and show extremely little buffy color on the 

 back and wings. The males, on the contrary, are lighter colored 

 (olive with a very slight yellow wash 1 ). A few of the darker 

 males approach the paler females in tint, but the darker wings and 

 breast markings of the females readily serve to distinguish the 

 sexes. Several specimens collected by Mr. Brown are quite 

 blackish, but this was evidently caused by the birds having sought 



1 Ridgvvay's Nomenclature of Colors, 



