on the Pied Rock- 7h? ush.



3i7



about visiting tlie uest, but be soon joined in ; for a day or so,

the female resented the intrusion ; and if she had shewn firmness

and decision like her predecessor of 1899 I think she would have

carried the day ; but a second class bird she was when received,

and a second class bird she remains, and she had to give in—to

her own undoing as will be seen later; he was altogether too

masterful for her.


The devotion of the male to the young, both as feeder and

nurse, was pretty to behold but ill-timed and ill-directed. We

want our mothers to look after their bairns themselves and not to

betray the trust reposed in them ; and little by little this mother

gave up work and the father took sole charge. This was unfor¬

tunate, for the mother quickly realised the danger of a mealworm

diet and would carry other things, but the male would feed the

young on nothing but mealworms.


As I have already said, they usually carried but one meal¬

worm at a time. On June 27, the female brought four mealworms

to a fledgeling who was on the path in the front. She “ pecked ”

at its gaping mouth with caution, so that it might not grab them

all at once. At the first peck, the youngster obtained one ; the

second was a miss ; at the third, one of the worms fell to the

ground; then came another miss, and at the next two were

grabbed and bolted; and lastly the dropped mealworm was

picked up and duly delivered. A little later, I saw the male

acting in a similar way.


Previous to the hatching of the young birds, the parents

had been mute, but on and from their introduction into the world

the male recommenced to warble. I also noticed that, as the

1899 male had done, he began carrying hay to another box, and

before long there was some flirting and pursuing—but of that

anon.


On the evening of the 20th I felt in the nest-box, and

found four nestlings settled down for the night. There was no

semblance of a nest—it had been trampled into a platform of hay.

The four nestlings were arranged in pairs, with a little space

between each, two facing to the front and two the back of the

box ; they were then all alive.


On the 24th, one was out; on the 25th, a second appeared ;



