32 BEHAVIOR OF PIGEONS. 



neighboring box. But he did not sit properly, moved about, and flew off at 12 o'clock. 

 A moment later the female returned of her own accord, but was immediately followed by 

 the male, and she again retired without entering the nest. The male entered and beckoned 

 with his wings and by calls for the female. At 12 h 15 m the male left the nest again, went 

 to his box, and called the female. She went back to her nest, only to be followed by the 

 male and again to retire, leaving him at the nest. This happened several times between 

 12 h 15 m and 12 h 30 m . The male went off at 12 h 35 m , went to his own box, and called the 

 female. She returned to the nest of her own accord at 12 h 46 m , while the male was still 

 calling on his box. Between 1 and l h 50 m I was away. At l h 50 m both birds were on the 

 floor, but the female went at once to her nest and was followed by the male. She left the 

 nest and he went off to his box, calling her as usual. A moment later she went to the 

 nest and at l h 55 m he returned; she promptly left the nest to him. At 2 the male aban- 

 doned the nest and she returned to it. At 2 h 10 she left for a moment and then returned 

 while he remained on the floor. At 2 h 12 m the male carried a straw and took the nest 

 from her again. At 2 h 13 m he flew to his box and she returned of her own accord; the male 

 in the meantime was calling. At 3 she came off and both were on the floor; she at once 

 went to the nest. I was absent from 3 to 6 p. m. At 6 p. m. the male was sitting on the 

 edge of the box over the female. I placed him on his perch beside the box and he remained. 



At 8 h 30 m a. m. on Jan. 29, the third day of sitting, the male took his place on the nest 

 and remained there quite contentedly. He behaved normally in every way but came off at 

 9 o'clock and remained for 15 minutes, both doves then spending the time together on the 

 floor of the cage. At 9 h 15 m he returned to the nest; he came off for a few moments at 

 10 h 50 m and then went back. He now seems to be in a normal mood. The male has 

 behaved properly all day, except for his long stay away from the eggs in the morning. 

 When night came he did not perch over his mate, but took a place at the opposite side 

 of the cage. Thus regularity in behavior sets all points right; in other words, normal 

 conduct in one particular is correlated with normal conduct in other respects. 



On Jan. 30 the male was found on the nest at 7 h 30 m a. m. He came off at 7 h 45 m and 

 the female went on. He returned with a straw at 7 h 50 m and she resigned her place to him. 

 All went normally for nine days thereafter, or until the night of Feb. 8, just before the 

 day on which the young would begin to hatch. The male went to the nest and tried very 

 hard to crowd out the female and obtain possession. Having failed in one attempt, he 

 left the nest for a few moments, but again returned and struggled to work his way in. 

 Again he failed to get possession and soon retired to his perch, as it was fast getting dark; 

 but he tried yet a third time before giving it up. On the next night he again behaved 

 in the same way. 1 



The second set of eggs was laid on Feb. 27 and 29. The male took his place on the 

 nest beside the female for the first time on the evening of Mar. 3, having kept the perch 

 regularly up to that time. He left the nest, however, at 8 h 40 m p. m. of this date and took 

 the perch. Probably my going to the nest stimulated him to retire; at any rate, he did so 

 just after I had left the nest. 



On Mar. 5, at 10 h 05 m a. m., I found the supposed male laying an egg; and, just after 

 the egg was dropped, the bird stood up so that I could see under her, and I was astonished 

 to find 4 eggs. The second pair of eggs were not measured, but they were fully as large 

 as the first. It is now clear that "pair D" represents two females, and this explains the fact 

 that the two birds have behaved towards each other now as male, and again as female. 

 I could not understand this before. It explains further why the supposed male has never 

 done much crowing. 



1 Since this pair, as determined later, consists of two females, the eggs necessarily did not hatch. The failure to 

 hatch, however, would arouse no suspicion as to the state of affairs. Incubation was imperfect during the first stages, 

 and failures under these circumstances are not uncommon. EDITOR. 



