82 BEHAVIOR OF PIGEONS. 



have been the lack, in the previous cycles of this female, of a masculine companion 

 and participant in the task of incubation; her impulse to sit may have thus been 

 weak at the time. Probably the introduction of a "novel stimulus," namely, of 

 a male to which she was not accustomed, had much to do with the disturbance. 

 This latter fact would account for the disruption of the incubation, but it alone 

 would not account for her ready acceptance of the male. The detailed records 

 which justify the above analysis follow: 



Mar. 28. The male blond ring-dove (X) was purchased to-day. I have placed him 

 with a female white ring-dove called W 1. The latter is one of two white rings bought in 

 the previous November and then thought to be male and female; the second white bird, 

 which also proved to be a female, I designated as W 2. W 1 is nearly ready to lay and is 

 inclined to mate. The male is fierce and will not tolerate her presence, so I have to keep 

 her in a small cage within his cage. On the following day the male was still intolerant, but 

 began to yield a little. He went to the box and called; she at once responded and went to 

 him, tried to take the nest, and began cooing in her turn. He endured it a while and then 

 drove her off. He next went to the opposite box and repeated the same behavior with 

 her. She is patient and takes all his abuse. By night he finally gets reconciled to her and 

 condescends to sit beside her. 



Mar. 30. The female laid an egg at about 5 p. m. The male has behaved towards 

 her to-day about the same as yesterday, driving her about a good deal and not permitting 

 her to remain long in the nest. He seemed to accept her when she answered his call to the 

 nest ; he often resigned it to her, but would soon return and drive her off and then call her 

 back. Yesterday, and once to-day, I saw him on the perch with her and soliciting her, but 

 without result. I do not think the egg had any chance of being fertilized. 



Mar. 31. This morning the male has been to the nest and the female resigned. He 

 examined the egg, but did not take any interest in it. He did not cover it, but began to 

 call for the female. After a few moments he went over to the opposite box and called, and 

 the female soon returned to her egg. The male is getting more tolerant, leaving the female 

 more quiet on her nest. But he is evidently not in the spirit of sitting, and the presence of 

 the egg does not stimulate him to the act. The decisive stimulus for such an act is thus 

 not external but internal probably a feeling which comes over a male "periodically," 

 and which he will manifest perhaps only if the external stimulus is also present. This 

 seems to me to be a not unimportant point. At 9 h 45 m a. m., the male went to the nest 

 again, and this time he did not disturb the female, but fondled her head affectionately 

 and then went off as if fully reconciled to her as a mate. All this is the more interesting, 

 as he still has no impulse to sit. He is ready for making a nest and to accept a mate, but 

 he requires time to generate the impulse to sit. This impulse naturally follows the period 

 of sexual activity, and he is now in the latter period. 



Apr. 1. The second egg was laid at 8 h 15 m a. m. The male behaves as on yesterday, 

 allowing the female peace on the nest. If she goes to the floor of the cage when he is there 

 he may behave as if he had accepted her or he may drive her unmercifully. At l h 30 m p. m. 

 I find the male on the nest and the female on the floor. He sits on the eggs now, but he 

 does not hesitate to come off three times within half an hour in order to pay his attention 

 to a female in the adjoining cage. Each time, however, he goes back to the eggs, and thus 

 seems to have a rising impulse to the function of sitting. Nevertheless, at 2 h 20 m p. m. 

 he came off the nest and, finding the female on the floor of the cage, attacked her fiercely. 

 She flew to the nest, leaving him to his pleasure. The impulse to sit, if there is one, must 

 still be very weak. 



[Apr. 2. The male relieved the female very early, at about 7 a. m., and remained about 

 10 to 15 minutes on the eggs. He went on the nest again during the middle of the day. 



