DOMESTIC HABITS OF THE CARRION-ChOW. 323 
when I came, the latter may be assumed to have been on the 
nest all night, and would therefore, most probably, be the 
female. She was not relieved in the duties of incubation, there- 
fore, but sat on though only for a few moments longer. When 
she also flew down both birds were out of my sight, so that even 
if I had not missed the return, shortly afterwards, of one of 
them, I could not have told which one this was. Assuming it to 
have been the female—which I think the more likely—then she 
was visited twice on the nest by the male whilst I stayed (which 
was till about 7), once, roughly speaking, at daybreak, and, 
again, about forty minutes later. I certainly did not see the 
sitting bird fed by the visiting one on either of these occasions, 
but with so deep a cavity to the nest this would have been 
difficult, and she might very well have been, each time. In fact, 
the pose and actions of the male, on each visit, were quite con- 
sistent with this supposition, and it seems, in itself, more likely 
that he came with some ulterior object than merely to pay an 
affectionate visit, though, to be sure, there is nothing so very 
unlikely in that. 
I think it more likely that it was the female who returned, to 
sit on the eggs, than that it was the male, for if there was a 
change upon them at all, why did it not take place when the 
latter first flew up at daybreak ? Again, if it had been the male, 
then the female, relieved after her all night’s sitting, would 
probably only have returned to the nest when she was again 
ready to take her place upon it. It does not seem likely that 
she would have come back to it again, shortly afterwards, either 
to feed the male or merely to make him a visit. But likelihood 
and unlikelihood are all I have to go upon. 
April 19th.—At same place at same time (4.80 a.m.) as 
yesterday, and there waited, with my eyes always turned on the 
nest, till 7.30, except that sometimes, during the last half-hour, 
I turned the glasses, for a few seconds, elsewhere; but even then 
I gave some side-glances towards the nest, so that it was never 
absent from my view in such a way or for such a time that I 
could have missed anything. 
During the whole of these three hours nothing whatever 
happened. There was no visit, and the sitting bird, whose head 
I could see plainly all the while, never left the nest. This 
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