334 
WILD WINGS 
on any branch. I felt terribly chagrined, but began a search 
for it, hoping that it was not yet devoured by foxes. Good ! 
Here it was on the ground, directly under the nest, squat¬ 
ting in the leaves. First I photographed it just as it lav, then 
in other surroundings where I placed the angry, snapping 
little fellow to suit my pleasure. One of these situations was 
at the entrance of a great hollow in a tree-trunk, which might 
well have been used as the nest-site by the parents, for this 
species sometimes uses hollow trees as well as old open nests 
of hawks and crows. 
The next move was to replace the little fellow in the small 
remnant of nest from which he had fallen, and j^hotograph 
him from the next tree. Then I screwed up the camera in the 
old ]:)lace, and the youth and I went into hiding, hoping that 
the mother owl would come back. The youth soon got tired 
of watching for owls, and went sound asleep. Now and then 
the old owl whined in the distance, but as time dragged on, 
it was evident that she knew that the young one, now half- 
grown, and partly feathered, was too old to need brooding. 
The little fellow, thinking he was unwatched, acted like his 
own little self. For a while he lay in the sun asleep. His head 
drooped away over the edge of the nest, and I did not know 
but he would fall out. Then he stood up and walked about, 
and stared off in such an interested and spirited attitude that 
I could not resist the temptation to pull the thread and take 
his picture. And so the series was complete. Before I left the 
blind, a Broad-winged Hawk came and stood on a tree near 
by in a dreamy, contemplati\'e way for about a quarter of an 
hour, perhaps pondering upon what tree she and her mate 
had better build their nest. 
It was more than a month, after returning from my trip 
South, before I again visited the locality. Not a single stick 
of the nest was left in the crotch. I understood now why it 
