THE TEMPLES OF THE HILLS 263 



flew slowly to another about fifty yards away, and 

 sat there peering at me and uttering loud caws as if 

 protesting against the intrusion. 



At another unprotected clump on a low down I 

 discovered a varied colony of birds — some breeding, 

 others with young out of the nest. It was a large 

 grove of old pine trees, almost shut in with a thick 

 growth of thorn and holly, mixed with bramble and 

 masses of wild clematis. It was full of the crooning 

 sound of turtle-doves, and in the high firs several 

 wood-pigeons had their nests. There were several 

 magpies and invariably on my coming to the spot 

 they would put in an appearance — quaint black-and- 

 white birds, sitting on the top boughs of the thorns, 

 always with their decorative tails behind them. A 

 pair of carrion crows were there too, but appeared 

 to have no nest or young. Better still it was to find 

 a family of long-eared owls — two adults and three 

 young, beginning to fend for themselves. Best of all 

 was a pair of sparrow-hawks with young in their 

 nest; for the sparrow-hawk is one of my prime 

 favourites, and the presence of these birds delighted 

 me even more than that of the owls. 



It was evident that these hawks did not associate 

 my appearance with the quick sharp report of a gun 

 and the rattle of shot about them, with perhaps the 

 fiery sting of a pellet of lead in their flesh, for they 

 were exceedingly bold and vociferous whenever I ap- 

 proached the nesting-tree. I visited them on several 

 days for the pleasure of seeing and hearing them. 

 The female was very bold and handsome to look at. 



