Life and Instinct 



205 



While watching hour by hour the Robins described in 

 Chapter IV., and recording their visits to their young, I began 

 to notice on the third day that the male usually approached on 

 the right side of the nest that is, on the observer's right as he 



Fig. 135. Inspecting the household. The female approaches on 

 the left. 



stood facing it, while the female frequently came to the back 

 or on the left. From that time I recorded the manner of each 

 approach, and found that the male invariably came to the 

 right side, and hopped down the limb to his nest. 



In the table given on page 206 in which the visits of both 

 birds are recorded for two consecutive days, R is for the right, 

 L for the left, and B for the far side of the nest with reference to 

 the tent, while the dashes represent visits the character of which 



