Extracts from Diary of Otto Widmann 3 



into it at first. She may or she may not enter it. She 

 reflects, is undecided, and goes off into the air, accom- 

 panied by an excited outcry from the whole colony. 

 Immediately all males are at her side, and drawing beau- 

 tiful circles around her bewitching fonn beseech her in 

 the most passionate terms. Soon she returns, goes from 

 one box to the other, comes back again and sits on neu- 

 tral ground to reconsider tlie situation. The whole 

 manoeuver may not take more than half an hour and the 

 choice is made. The rejected suitors content themselves 

 immediately and fights are rare among old people who 

 respect each other's domain, but after the arrival of 

 birds of the second year, when both females and vacant 

 bird boxes become scarcer, quarrels are more numerous. 

 Occupation of a box and mating do not mean nest-build- 

 ing yet. A pair may have possession of a box for weeks 

 before it begins to build, which is generally not before 

 the middle of April and which is even then sometimes 

 interrupted by cold spells, when food is scarce for sev- 

 eral days. On fine, warm spring days nest-building is 

 done with great zeal all day, not only in the morning, as 

 before. The female is the one that does most of the 

 work, but the male accompanies her on the collecting 

 trips, and his presence is really of value as he stands 

 guard while she alights on the ground to pick up twigs, 

 weed-stalks, straws, pieces of string or rags. 



These rough materials are laid down, not very artis- 

 tically, but with a good deal of method to make the struc- 

 ture fit for its use. The rough material is kept in place 

 by bits of half-dried cow manure and the wall facing the 

 door is plastered with mud. In rainy seasons more mud 

 is used and some boxes facing west have been found to 

 contain regular walls of mud between the entrance and 

 the nest, the mud-wall itself weighing as much as eight 

 ounces. 



When the construction of the nest is nearing comple- 



