DEFECTIVE CYCLES. 77 



just ready to lay. She remained on the nest until 5 h 30 m , came off for a minute, returned, 

 and came off again in about a minute. She went back almost immediately, but stopped 

 on the edge of the nest-box. Here she sat quietly until 7 h 25 m , when frightened by some- 

 thing probably an owl appearing at the window she flew to the floor and her mate 

 flew to another corner of the pen. After a few moments the female went back to the 

 edge of the nest-box, where she remained all night, returning to the nest early in the 

 morning. She evidently went through the preliminaries to laying, but was a little prema- 

 ture in her actions. By experience she will learn to waste less time in fruitless formalities 

 over such a small matter as laying an egg. 



Jan. 10. To my surprise the female pays little attention to the nest as 4 o'clock 

 draws near. She was on the nest early in the morning and nested for considerable periods 

 during the day, but when the time for laying came, she was off and is now on the perch, 

 apparently for the night. 



Jan. 12. This female has not laid yet. She works at the nest a good deal in the 

 forenoon, but less in the afternoon. She goes to the nest towards 4 o'clock but does not 

 stay more than a few minutes, certainly not more than half an hour. She is on the perch 

 to-night. 



Jan. 19. After 10 days there are still no eggs. The female has recently spent less 

 time on the nest, and sometimes she seems to have given up nesting for the present. 



Jan. 23. The female spent some time in the forenoon in making a nest, her mate 

 bringing the straw. She has not been on the nest of afternoons to stop long, and has taken 

 the perch every night. 



Jan. 26. To my surprise the female (L 2} has laid her first egg this afternoon, 

 between 3 and 5 h 30 m 17 days after I expected it. The time has dragged on at such length, 

 and she has given so little sign of laying, that I did not keep close watch of her to-day. 



Elsewhere the editor finds a detailed daily record of this pair covering 3 days, a brief 

 synopsis of which is here given : The first egg was laid on Jan. 26 between 3 and 5 h 30 m . 

 She sat over night on the egg, but not closely, and kept the nest until 10 h 20 m a. m. of the 

 next day, when she was relieved by the male. On the 27th the pair alternated on the nest 

 and in carrying straws. Similar behavior obtained for the 28th. The egg was broken on 

 the 29th, and the detailed record was terminated. There was no second egg laid. 



Feb. 1. The female began yesterday to sit at night, and I made her sit on the 

 perch. She did the same to-night. Whether she sat on the nights of the 29th and 30th I 

 am not certain. The egg was broken and removed on the 29th. Her sitting is therefore 

 certainly a part of the regular routine on which she was started when the egg ivas laid. She 

 now keeps it up although the egg is removed. 



Feb. 4. That L 2 is still in her course of incubation is shown also by her indiffer- 

 ence to the male. She has taken her nest every night thus far and I have removed her 

 every night. Yesterday a union took place, probably the first since the incubation period 

 began. 



Feb. 6. To-night is the first time that L 2 has taken her place on the perch without 

 being driven from her nest. She has been trying to sit at night ever since her first egg was 

 laid on January 26, i. e., for 10 days. Driving her off every night has at last broken up the 

 incubation course, and to-day I noticed several sexual unions. (R 18, R 19.) 



SECOND CYCLE. 



In this cycle the female continued the incubation for a period of 10 days (prob- 

 able) after a normal mating period, in spite of the following defective conditions: 

 Absence of both eggs, without even the stimulus of the act of laying, the absence of 

 interchange with the male (probable), the probable sexual advances of her mate, and 



