VOL. X.] HABITS OF SPARROW-HAWK. 59 



Perhaps the hawk gave the low " kew " note and for 

 some reason we did not hear it ; at any rate it would be 

 uttered quite close to the Owl and he answered it, and 

 was always hooting just before we heard any note from 

 the hawk. Thus we got two indications of the direction 

 of the wind : the notes of the Tawny Owl and the hawk. 

 On some days at the end of June and early in July the 

 wind changed frequently, but these birds always told us 

 of the change the next time the hawk came in. 



After the young have left the nest, it is used as a dining 

 table for some time up to three weeks. The cock brings 

 food to it (Fig. 4) and the hen no longer breaks it up, 

 but each young one has a carcass in turn. Even if no 

 youngster is in the nest, they answer the cock's calls 

 from their various perches, and he puts the food in the 

 nest and the quickest and most hungry gets it. The hen, 

 for the first few days after the young have left the nest, 

 does not seem to do much hunting, but to take a share 

 of the food provided by the cock. As often as not 

 she eats this in the nest, like a young bird. If she is 

 disturbed, she takes what she is eating with her, a thing 

 which the young, at that stage, cannot do. 



It must be borne in mind that observations on the 

 cock, made from a hut, are none too trustworthy. My 

 notes on all three cocks I have watched from huts vary 

 very considerably, according to the temperament of the 

 bird, and make it impossible to generalize. I only give 

 these notes as applying to birds I have watched myself. 



{To he continued.) 



