^°898^] IIowE, Breeding: JIahih of the Robin. I 65 



two to four eggs (very rarely five in this locality); and if the 

 weather is cold the bird often at once begins to set, that is, with 

 the laying of the first egg. Otherwise, if the weather is mild, 

 setting does not commence until the complete clutch is laid. 

 The eggs are generally laid, I believe, between the hours of 

 eleven p. m. and four a. m., but this is at least not always so. 

 The average period of incubation is thirteen days, but a variation 

 of nearly twenty-four hours is not very uncommon. The female 

 incubates almost unassisted : the male, however, I have observed 

 in a number of cases, upon the female leaving the nest, takes her 

 place, sometimes on the edge of the nest, while at other times he 

 settles himself upon the nest, somewhat awkwardly, but in no 

 case have I ever seen a male sit for more than three minutes in 

 succession. The female does not leave the nest at noon to feed, 

 when the heat of the sun is the strongest, as one would suppose, 

 but leaves the nest generally about nine to ten a. m. and five to 

 six p. ]\i. I have never observed the male feed the female while 

 incubating. 



Care and Growth of the Young. 



The young may all be hatched inside of twenty-four hours or 

 during a space of three days ; this is governed by whether the 

 female begins to incubate at the completion of the clutch or, by 

 reason of cold weather, at the laying of the first or second o.^'g. 

 As soon as the young are hatched both birds commence to supply 

 them with food, the male doing his full share. For the first few 

 days the young apparently do not need much nourishment only 

 warmth, for the female leaves the nest but rarely during this 

 period. The eyes of the young open on the sixth day, and from 

 the third day on, the rapidity of feather growth is astounding. 

 The parents are now kept busy from morn till eve supiMying the 

 wants of the young, the birds bringing food to the nest nearly 

 twenty times per hour. 



The method of keeping the nest clean from the excrement of 

 the young is interesting. Each time the female comes to the 

 nest with food she stands, after delivering the morsel, until one 

 of the young, having elevated its hinder parts, excretes on the 

 edge of the nest, when she stoops forward and apparently S7val- 



