
were the only cases of egg destruction observed. A nest with three 
egzs found on August 8 was hatched successfully on August 13. 
Several residents of the Codroy valley assured m that in past 
years they had occasionally found nests in early August when they 
mowed the grass. 
In a nest found on June 19 the eggs hatched on June 27. At 
that time no male was in attendance and none had been positively 
located. No male was recorded winnowing in the vicinity of the nest 
found on August 8 that hatched August 13. 
Incubation.--Eleven pairs from the nests under discussion were 
colour banded, the incubating adults with a yellow band, the known 
males with a red band, and those whose sex could not be determined 
“with a colour combination including green. Colour banding was not 
considered effective for identification except under ideal condi- 
tions of observation. Most of the observations were made from 
blinds or by relocating broods in the field. No nest was visited 
more than 11 days before hatching, and each was visited daily after 
its discovery if possible. The blind was usually set up in the 
late evening and care was taken to enter it from the rear, so that 
the bird did not flush or returned guickly after flushing. A 
flashlight held steady did not seem to disturb the nesting bird. 
In several hundred visits to the 11 nests where pairs were 
banded, we did not record an instance of a known male incubating. 
In one instance the female left the nest for 15 minutes in the 
afternoon. The nest contained two active chicks and two unhatched 
eggs. The male appeared promptly and settled on the nest, brood- 
ing a chick under each wing. The study was not complete enough 
to justify generalization on the role of the sexes in incubation, 
but it would appear that the male's parental instinct is not very 
strong until the chicks appear. 
During the early phases of incubation the female sets extended 
on the nest, with head and bill level. Any movement or noise by 
the observer causes her to ruffle her feathers, make soft clucking 
noises, or even raise her head. She may then walk quietly off the 
nest. Generally she walks in and out of the nest, but she some- 
times flies to the nest site and walks only the last few feet, usu- 
ally in a leisurely manner, with frequent displacement feeding 
gestures. When she gets close to the nest, it appears to attract 
her strongly, and she no longer hesitates. Before settling down 
she rolls the eggs with her body, sometimes turns them with her bible 
At hatching time the female appears very excited and becomes 
much less wary. She turns over the eggs frequently. Occasionally 
she straddles the nest with extended wings and keeps up a soft 
clucking. Disturbances at that time cause her to ruffle her feathers 
and fan her tail erect. Some females brood very closely and can be 
7/ 
