332



Mr. W. F. Teschemaker,



rivals for a nesting-site and a mate ; it is, therefore, as lean and

hard as a trained athlete. It is this condition that we want to

reproduce: if we shut up a pair by themselves we shall find that

they will quickly become fat, sluggish and out of sorts. For a

counterfoil I selected a pair of Pekin Robins, both because they

were a little bigger than Tites and therefore not likely to be

slain by him, and also because they would be certain to go to

nest. Thus you will see that, instead of trusting to “luck,” I

based my calculations on environment, competition, suggestion,

and lastly, but by no means leastly, on a breeding hen.


The Pekins soon went to nest but they were not allowed to

hatch, in which case the state of war between the two families

would have developed from a healthy recreation into a pitched

battle. The next event was the building of a very neat little

nest by Tites alone in the small nest-box (this nest can only be

dimly seen in the photo). Then came a rather long interregnum

and at last one day the hen House-red-tail glided into the nest that

Tites built, inspected it and glided out again. The psychological

moment had now arrived : I extracted the Pekins. On the 9th

June the first egg was laid and the clutch of five was completed

and incubation commenced on the 13th. It was not possible to

inspect the eggs 011 account of the want of light, but I ascertained

the number (and at the same time tested the statement in one of

the bird-books that a Blackstart will always desert if the eggs

are handled) by inserting a finger daily. The female undertook

the entire task of incubation, but Tites sang to her to while away

the time. The song of this species is quite unique : it consists of

a low warbling interspersed with some curious guttural notes

which sound as if they were produced by the winding up of

some machine, the ratchet and pall of the winding drum of a

grandfather’s clock for choice. On the 26th, I picked up the

half-shell of a hatched egg in the flight; it was very round,

of a pure translucent white and with a peculiar gloss. Tites

fed the young and also his partner with praiseworthy diligence.

Having lost the feathers of the crown, as the result of a cat-raid,

and having also suffered in many skirmishes with the Pekins, he

was a most disreputable looking object, but his vitality was un¬

impaired and his energy immense. I extracted an unhatched



