136 FIRST APPEARANCES OF BIRDS. INSECTS, ETC. 



dripping. There are pleasanter places than a wet bird tent 

 in a heavy lightning storm. Fortunately the camera was 

 not a penny the worse for its soaking. 



June 17. I started at 6.30 a.m. At 6.35 cock came' to 

 the nest and made a great fuss. 



At 6.50 the hen came after a few preliminary "churcks," and 

 fed the young and cleaned the nest. She brought bulky 

 insects held crosswise in her bill, but what species or even 

 order I could not see. 



At 6.52 the cock arrived, giving a single "cluck;" at 6.57 

 the hen came and fed young and cleaned nest. The young 

 were just as vociferous as ever. As I was now nearer the nest, 

 having moved the tent, I found the noise more like someone 

 hammering metal on an anvil some distance away. I also 

 found the sound was ventriloquial, and put this down to the 

 fact that the noise was made in a hole, and projecting from 

 the orifice returned to me after striking neighbouring trees. 



At 7.7 one parent returned and the young altered their 

 tone. 



At 7.15 the cock arrived and fed the young with 3 geometer 

 moths and 3 or 4 large green geometer larvse (or possibty 

 B. parthcnias). I then had to leave the nest to get ready for 

 office work. 



June 21, 10.22 a.m. The young are nearly as large as their 

 parents and their crests are very bright indeed now. I was 

 quite unable to determine the number of the brood ; one only 

 at a time came to the entrance, and it may have been the only 

 one. I could not distinguish more than one voice, but that 

 may have been due to my deafness, nor could I recognize 

 any difference in size, colour, or personal appearance in the 

 head or successive heads looking out of the hole. 



At 10.35 an adult arrived, but I could not see which. At 

 10.40 the cock, at 11.5 the cock again, and at 11.7 the hen 

 arrived and fed the young. At 11.10 the cock brought what 

 looked like a mouthful of Scoparias. At 11.14 the young 

 were silent for a few seconds ; this was a noteworthy event. 

 The hen arrived and fed them, but they started off the moment 



