VOL. X ] 



HABITS OF SPARROW-HAWK. 



77 



stages she often flies away with them and drops them. 

 The young are greatly troubled with fleas and are always 

 flea-hunting. Another pest which worries them is a 

 tick-shaped fly with rudimentary wings, which Mr. 

 Gahan of the British Museum tells me is Ornithomyia 

 avicularia L. 



As the nestlings grow older, the down continues to 



Fig 



SPARROW-HAWK. 



Tliis serves to illustrate two points: (I) The top of the swing is a full stretchof 

 both wings ; (2) The top of the swing is the beginning of the " flap-dance." 



(Photographed by J. H. Owen.) 



grow in length and entirely changes in shape from a 

 single stem to a branched stem. The young look par- 

 ticularly fascinating when they are fully clothed in 

 white down, just before and just as the brown plumage 

 begins to show\ At this stage they begin to preen 

 themselves much and often, and as they are as yet 

 unable to stand, this has to be done lying down. Of 

 course the rate of growth in the young is not always the 

 same. The wing- and tail-quills appear first invariably, 

 and I have known them to be as long as one inch and 



