34 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. x. 



when the young become big enough they pull bits off 

 the carcass while she holds it. Sometimes a young one 

 seizes the prey while the hen's attention is distracted ; 

 in such a case she usually recovers it immediately by 

 firm but gentle means. She is a wonderful mother, and 

 only once have I seen one really peevish with a young 

 one : on that occasion the youngster tried to help 

 himselfand took his mother's middle toe by mistake ; 

 the twist and pull action must have hurt her horribly, 

 and she banged the offender on the side of the head, 

 but she seemed most careful not to hurt but only to 

 warn. 



After she has fed the young and examined and cleaned 

 the nest, she always cleans her feet, and particularly 

 the claws that have held the prey. To do this she 

 takes these toes in her bill and draws them roughly 

 and violently through it once or twice. The extreme 

 violence of this action often made me shudder and 

 fear that she would rip a talon off. 



If the cock is getting game faster than it is needed, 

 the hen will not fetch it. On one occasion he brought 

 three birds to the wood in just five minutes ; the hen 

 fed the young with the first and part of the second, 

 which she finished herself. When he called the third 

 time she turned her head in his direction, gave one awe- 

 some shriek, and resumed her original position. After 

 that it was more than an hour before I heard the cock 

 again. 



It is a very pretty sight to see the hen go to brood 

 after a meal. She looks at the young first and then 

 round the neighbourhood. Then she puffs all her breast 

 feathers out to the widest extent and looks at the yomig 

 and glances round about again. Sometimes she has a 

 wonderful look of satisfaction as she gazes at the young 

 (Fig. 6). Finally she bends forward a little and edges 

 over them by degrees, pushing her way forward little 

 by little. Once, and once only, I saw her dump herself 

 down on the young and they very quickly tried to 



