1) Feeding rate and food consumption of nestling tits, great tit and varied tit, were assessed by means of automatically photographing of foods brought to the nest, in the ever-green broad leaved forests in northern Kyushu.
2) In the diet of great tit nestling, lepidopterous larvae formed about 70%, and moths, spiders and diprionid larvae are other important preys. Mean weight of prey is 87.0mg, dr. and preys weighed from 40 to 80mg. dr. were brought most frequently. In the varied tit nestling, lepidopterous larvae formed 45% and, alternatively, proportion of moths and spiders increased. Mean weight is 42.8mg. dr. and preys below 40mg. dr. were brought frequently.
3) Feeding frequency of great tit was stable at about 13/nestling/day except that it was at about 21/nestling/day in the middle phase of nestling period. Varied tit often brought more than one prey at a time, 1.59 preys/visit on average. Feeding frequency of varied tit was stable at 14/nestling/day (22 preys/nestling/day) after 4th nestling-day, though it was somewhat lower just after hatching.
4) Daily amount of foods just before fledging was 4.67g. fr./nestling/day and 29.0% of the nestling body weight of great tit. For varied tit, 3.16g. fr./nestling/day and 19.4%.
5) Diet composition, feeding rate and food consumption are compared between several different habitats and between above two species, and was discussed.

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Fledged family life
Nest-leaving: Behaviors of chicks and parents at nest-leaving of chicks are summarized as follows
Feeling near flying of chicks from nest, the female utters her soft nasal nga-notes addressing to chicks, lengthens the feeding intervals so as to invoke the nest-leaving mood of chicks by causing the restless irritation from increasing hunger. The male chiefly watches her, feeding the chicks with still longer intervals.
From a few days before nest-leaving, the chicks stand on nest-wall, preening (taking off descamating sheath of growing feathers), stretching and with jumping or wing flapping excercise, and finally they leave the nest to perch on near branches. Then they gradually move to upward branches to roost there for the night.
This is usually toward evening and the root of such nest-leaving behavior may be in correlation with inherent roosting drive.
Having once left the nest, the chicks would not come back to, or roost, on the nest (although they may temporarily perch on it while moving through the branches).
During the day, the fledged chicks sit still in the foliage, sleeping and waiting the parents for food. The feeding frequency by parents 4 days after chicks' flying was 1.3 times per hour.
On the 3rd day after fledged, a chick could fly about 30m and on the 8th day they flew 40-50m and came back to their perch.
At the first night of fledging from nest, the chicks roosted on perches where they sat during the day and parents took roost (both in 1969 and '70, though they flew off to "flock roost" in 1977) below the nest-tree ("nest-site roost"), as if to guard the chicks (which are sleeping above in the tree, keeping individual distance of several meters. This may have an effect of distrupting the predator's attention. Thereafter, the parents roosted either in "nest-site", "territory" roost or flew off to "flock roost", reacting to the condition of chicks (If fed enough the chicks roosted quietly but if not they were irritated by hunger and in this case parents' (female) reaction involved some judgment behavior (cf. Kuroda 1969).
The period of fledged family life can be summarized by dividing four periods:
1. First period from fledging to 4th or 5th day.
The chicks rest and wait parents' feeding perched in nest-tree (or adjacent taller tree) where they roost at night. The parents may roost below in "nest-site roost" (guarding chicks) or in "territory roost", or flly off to "flock roost" (judging the condition of the chicks).
2. Five to ten days after fledged.
The chicks begin to fly around the nest-tree, and the parents guide them (one chick after another by repeated trips to and from the roost-site and chick) to "nest-site" roost to sleep there by family.
3. Ten to twenty days after fledged.
Fledged family accompanied by female may move around for food chiefly within 100m from the nest-tree. But, usually a delayed chick remains in the nest-tree a few more days. Parents may guide chicks to "territory roost" to roost by family. Territory defense of parents are weakened and their chick guard drive reaches to its peak. The begging voice of chicks get lauder.
4. After twenty days from fledging.
At about 20 days from fledging the young (now to be so called) may be guided by parents to "flock roost" about 1km apart. From this day, well grown young may join to young crow group of the "flock roost" area, and may not return to parents' territory. But, a delayed young, having guided by parents to "flock roost" a few days after well grown mates, would return to parents' territory by itself (possibly urged to do so by "loneliness".).
Such a family life of parents and a delayed young may continue 50-100 days, during which the parents would never reject the young from their territory. But, the latter gradually behaves independent of parents, not returning to territory on some days, and finally deserts the territory.

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1. Nest sites of A. atthis and C. lugubris were surveyed in 3 areas in Kyoto Prefecture mainly from 1974 to 1977.
2. Their nest sites, cliffs were searched mainly along roads and discovered cliffs and nest holes were measured and described.
3. C. lugubris often makes nest holes more than 1000m far from the river but nest holes of A. atthis are seldom found more than 500m far. C. lugubris selects high and pure-sanded cliffs but A. atthis doesn't show these tendencies.
4. The reason why A. atthis doesn't select cliffs good to breed is discussed from the point of view of home range.

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One hundred and eleven pellets of the Yozo Ural Owl were collected in a shelter-belt at Koshimizu district, eastern Hokkaido, during the four winter seasons from 1966 to 1977. Prey species in these pellets were identified by the teeth, bones, crania and feathers. Small mammals consisting of 7 species of rodents, 2 species of insectivores, a Russian flying squirrel, and a least weasel made a bulk of numbers in the prey species, while birds in which Pygmy Woodpecker, poultry and Brown-eared Bulbul were identified occupid relatively small part in the diet.
The composition of prey species, specially of rodents, showed yearly variation which seemed to be related with the abundance of prey and feeding habits of the owl. From the compotion of the rodents taken and population density of them in the wind shelter-belt, the Ural Owl seemed to prefer more Clethrionomys rufocanus than Apodemus spp. but the preference appeared to be weaker than in the red fox.

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1. Incubation behaviour of the Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus was studied at a reclaimed area near Makuhari, Chiba in 1977, with special reference to the share of sexes in diuanal incubation duties and the effect of ground surface temperature.
2. Parental attentiveness in the daylight hours was on average 77% in the laying period, 90% and 89% in the early and late stages of the incubation period, and 62% in the hatching period.
3. By day the male incubated most of the time (86%) in the laying period as well as hatching period, but the female did in the incubation period (84-85%). It was suggested that the male should brood the clutch during night in the incubation period.
4. When the ambieht temperature rose up high or when predators approached the nesting grounds, the male often relieved the female of incubation duties.
5. The adult attentiveness was 87% at 31-33°C temperature range (at the ground surface), 93% at 25-30°C and 95% at 34-36°C. Depending upon the ambient temperature, incubation postures were changed: the parent sat closely on the eggs when it was low, but began panting with increasing temperature, and frequently shaded the clutch by standing over it when it rose up to 34°C.
6. The observation that the male took most of the diurnal incubation duties in the laying period assumes an interest because it might enable the female to allocate much time for foraging and consequently reduce the energetic load imposed upon her for egg formation.
7. The changing incubation behaviours in relation to the ground surface temperature are without doubt adaptive in maintaining the eggs within the optimum temperature range (about 35-36°C) for embryomic development. However, the significance of in relation to the fine adjustment of egg temperature was not clarified by the present study.

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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1. The Little Egret, Egretta garzetta is in general a summer visitor to Korea, arriving late April to early May.
2. I observed 51 wintering individuals of this species at a roost of bamboo forest at Gigok-ri, Jinju-city, Gyongsang-namdo on 11-12 March, 1978.
3. Their feeding area and resting ground are around near the roost.

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[in Japanese]

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