At about 5:30 a.m. on July 3 the writer was attracted by a peculiar rolling motion of the egg in the nest, and noticed upon closer observation, that the shell bulged out in a ring around the middle or a little nearer the smaller end; and soon it began to crack at this place. The egg raised on the small end, leaning against the side of the nest, and the young bird freed himself from the shell by a series of pushes and kicks by the head and feet, respectively. The head escaped from the larger part of the shell and the lower part of the body from the smaller end. The crown of the head and the median line of the back of the nestling were downy. This entire process covered a period of less than four minutes. The empty shells were broken up and eaten by the parents. He says that brooding was carried on entirely by the female, except that he once saw the male brooding for 7 minutes, and adds: The female was more careful in brooding the young during the first few days. She would stop for intervals throughout the day, while feeding, and brood the young. Her way of completely covering the brood was to fluff out the under coverts against the rim of the nest and bring the wings down, just inside, so as to effectually close the nest. * * * The female had different brooding attitudes for the varying circumstances. For protection against the cold of early morning she brooded in the manner described above, completely covering the young. Through the rains she brooded in much the same way as for cold, sheltering the young, so that after an unusually heavy downpour, the nest remained perfectly dry inside. During the heat of midday she usually stood in the nest with wings spread, shielding the young, but without shutting off the circulation of the air. On the contrary, at times she gently flapped her wings, as if fanning the young. During the strong winds she stood in the nest with wings outstretched, and leaned in the direction of the wind, so as to secure a delicate balance and at the same time keep the young in the nest.