178 The Wilson Bulletin— No. 97 



flew round the nest twice, then went to where the second bird 

 was perched. The first bird held something in its beak, which 

 it brought to the other bird. At 8:10 the second bird flew 

 away, the other followed it and neither returned during our 

 stay. On Saturday, July 15, we found one bird sitting upon 

 the completed nest. The third nest was in a little maple tree, 

 five feet, seven inches from the ground and on a horizontal 

 branch a foot from the trunk. This tree was only about 

 twelve feet from one of the laboratories, and as people were 

 continually passing by the birds became accustomed to them. 

 The nest was bulky and rough looking on the outside. It 

 was made of grass, fibres, roots, and string not smoothly 

 woven together. The inside of the nest was carefully and 

 securely woven. It was built upon a forked branch. It meas- 

 ured six inches on the outside and three and a half on the in- 

 side and was a little longer than it was wide. The nest was 

 begun on June 26, and finished on June 28. 



C. Period of Incubation. 



The five eggs were laid on July 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6. My ob- 

 servations were begun on July 9, when one of the waxwings 

 was upon the nest. I watched for an hour in the morning 

 and in the afternoon of July 10, 11, 12 and 14, but did not 

 see the bird leave the nest unless I frightened it away, in 

 which case it returned in from one to three minutes. It was 

 possible that the first bird may have been on at night and that 

 the second bird began early in the morning. Any way the 

 waxwings did not change at short intervals. My observations 

 made me think that the brooding may be done very largely 

 by one bird. 



D. Nesting Period. 



July 17, 8 :00-9 :45 A. M. 

 On July 17, there was one little bird with eyes closed and 

 seemingly without feathers. The parent bird returned one 

 minute after I frightened it away and remained on the nest 

 the rest of the hour. 



