Extracts from Diary of Otto Widmann 5 



ous in the absence of the owner. It is therefore not at 

 all surprising to find that from eggs deposited in early 

 May none, or few, are hatched. The eggs laid in the 

 last week of May and first of June prove to have the best 

 chance for a successful ultimate result. The outcome of 

 later broods is imcertain for the reason that the mortal- 

 ity among nestlings increases with the advancement of 

 the season. Soon after the first of July the heated, dry 

 period sets in and with its progress insect food adapted 

 for nestlings becomes scarcer and scarcer, while the ter- 

 rible scourge of the poor bird, its parasites, increases 

 at an enormous rate. The excessive heat in the bird- 

 houses, the parasites and the want of succulent food 

 combine to produce a restlessness among the helpless 

 creatures which early leads to destruction by their fall- 

 ing out of the lofty cradle. The number of eggs is gen- 

 erally five ; one nest out of five contains six eggs. Pour 

 eggs are laid when a second set is deposited after the 

 first has been destroyed, or it is the result of some mis- 

 hap, of wliich a not unusual one is the accidental brush- 

 ing out by the bird herself in leaving the nest. When 

 incubation is under way the male's business is to watch 

 while she does the sitting, but several times during the 

 day he is seen to enter the box with something in his bill, 

 and a moment later the lady of the house comes out of 

 the door, stretches her wings and goes off. She stays 

 away only fifteen to twenty minutes, but when she re- 

 turns she has hardly passed the threshold when the male 

 is already on the start and generally leaves in great 

 haste. His presence seems to be hardly more than a 

 watch, and when she stays away long he is likely to come 

 out on the porch, look up to the sky, and even to go off 

 in search of her. 



The time which elapses from the dropping of the last 

 eggs to the appearance of the young varies considerably, 

 namely, between thirteen and twenty days. The ordi- 



