Evoked responses to 118‐dB SPL clicks recorded from the rat's dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) have a complex waveform with a first biphasic positive‐negative component that represents auditory‐nerve axon discharge. The second component, which follows the first by 0.8 to 1.3 msec. is a smaller positive‐negative wave and may reflect second‐order fiber discharge within the DCN, but does not representN2. In the extreme lateral DCN, a third evoked response component is a large positive‐negative biphasic wave that may be related toN2. In the rest of the DCN, the third component is a slow monophasic baseline shift lasting 5–6 msec, upon which the second components may frequently be superimposed. As click intensity is varied between 83 and 108 dB SPL, rarefaction‐click DCN responses have shorter latencies and greater amplitude than do condensation‐click responses reflecting at the cochlear nucleus level the earlier excitation of auditory‐nerve dendrites by upward excursions of the basilar membrane. [Supported by NINDB grant and Middlebury College.]