Feeding 



Both parents shared in this duty, though not quite equally. 

 The number of feeding visits during the time of observation, by 

 hour and sex is shown in Table I. 



TABLE I 



SHOWING THE FEEDINGS BY THE HOUR ON THREE DAYS 









July 8 





July 9 





July 11 





Hour 



Female Male Total 



Female Male 



Total 



Female 



Male 



Total 



5:00 



a.m. 



5 



2 



7 



9 



3 



12 



5 



2 



7 



6:00 



a.m. 



3 



1 



4 



5 



0 



5 



5 



3 



8 



7:00 



a.m. 



11 



4 



15 



9 



3 



12 



5 



0 



5 



8:00 



a.m. 



o 



o 



i 



ft 



A 



i 



5 



5 



5 



10 



9:00 



a.m. 



8 



0 



8 



10 



3 



13 



3 



3 



6 



10:00 



a.m. 



7 



3 



10 



9 



5 



14 



2 



4 



6 



11:00 



a.m. 



7 



0 



7 



6 



1 



7 



3 



1 



4 







49 



11 



60 



52 



16 



68 



28 



18 



46 



12:00 



a.m. 



14 



2 



16 









2 



1 



3 



1:00 



p.m. 



9 



1 



10 









1 



1 



2 



2:00 



p.m. 



6 



1 



7 









3 



1 



4 



3:00 



p.m. 



4 



0 



4 









5 



2 



7 



4:00 



p.m. 



4 



1 



5 









3 



2 



5 



5:00 



p.m. 



3 



0 



3 









2 



1 



3 



6:00 



p.m. 



1 



0 



1 









2 



1 



3 



7:00 



p.m. 



1 



0 



1 









2 



1 



3 







91 



16 



107 



52 



16 



68 



48 



28 



76 







85% 



15% 





76% 



24% 





63% 



37% 





These figures show that altogether 75% of the work of feeding 

 was done by the female, while the male did about 25%. 



There is considerable work to be done in the study of the varia- 

 tion of the reflexes of the nestling under varying conditions. 

 For instance, at visit No. 75 the record shows that the Cowbird 

 was fed a Mayfly by the female parent. But the notes say also 

 that the morsel was first offered to White who did not respond. 

 And at visit No. 79 the female parent fed a fat green worm to 

 the Cowbird; again the notes say that White was tried several 

 times without a response. Now shall we conclude that the reflex 

 failed in the case of White because the reflex mechanism was in 

 a state of fatigue, or because the particular food did not provide 

 the necessary stimulus? 



27 



