VOL. X.] HABITS OF SPARROW-HAWK. 9 



the food and deposit it on the nest. Then, unless the 

 rain is extraordinarily heavy, the hen will break it up, 

 Occasionally the rain is so heavy that she is unwilling to 

 leave the young exposed, even for the minute or two this 

 task would take. I have seen the carcass of a Skylark 

 lying unheeded on the nest for more than an hour while 

 the rain pelted down. 



A point I gathered was that the cock hunted through 

 these storms unless they were exceptionally severe ; that 

 he did not always do so is only conjecture. I certainly 

 saw him hunting in one very severe storm (pelting rain 

 and a regular gale), and it seemed to have absolutely no 

 effect on his movements, for he travelled at a great pace 

 against the wind. 



When the young get wet, the dampness as a rule only 

 extends to the down or plumage on their backs. This 

 gets very matted and then the water courses off it quite 

 freely, so that in no case did I see them get moisture on 

 the skins. When they got really wet and matted they 

 seemed to leave the plumage alone for nearly half an hour 

 after the hen had left them before they made any attempt 

 to clean and preen themselves. 



After one series of tremendous thunderstorms, each 

 with very heavy rain or hail in quick succession, I had 

 the good fortune to see the hen drying her plumage. 

 Through getting ofE to feed the young between two 

 storms, and, being put off by me on my return, she had 

 changed her position at least twice without having a 

 chance to dry herself. She was therefore in a very 

 bedraggled condition when the thunder passed away. 

 The rain ceased and a wind rose and the sun came out 

 brightly. She first of all fed the young and then perched 

 a few yards from the hut upwind. She changed her 

 position now and then, sometimes putting herself on a 

 dead branch full in the sun and at other times taking a 

 position in the shade. She turned her back to the sun 

 and spread her wings to it : they were held partly 

 extended and depressed, and the primaries well separated. 



