We studied the variables controlling the temporal location of polydipsic licking. Four rats were trained on a mixed fixed-ratio 10 (no tone) chained fixed-ratio 10 (no tone) fixed-ratio 90 (tone) schedule and on a multiple fixed-ratio 10 (tone) fixed ratio 100 (no tone) schedule. On the multiple schedule, drinking followed pellets if a fixed ratio 100 was upcoming for all four subjects and for two of the subjects if a fixed ratio 10 was upcoming. On the mixed schedule, drinking preceded the fixed-ratio 90 component of the chain. Two subjects also drank after pellet delivery on the mixed schedule before both the fixed ration 10 and the chain components. The number of licks was greater following a pellet than following a response. In a second phase with two of these subjects, the total response requirement of the chain was held constant at 100, while the size of the two ratios that constituted the chain was varied inversely. The tone signaled onset of the second link. Drinking followed the tone when it signaled fixed-ratio 90, 95, or 100 but not when it signaled fixed ratio 75, 80, or 85. These results show, on the one hand, that polydipsic licking is controlled by discriminative properties of the pellet rather than by its eliciting or "thirst-producing" characteristics. On the other hand, the fact that drinks were longer following a pellet than following a response suggests a contribution of thirst to polydipsia.