WOOD AND WASTE 101 



The greatest care was taken in no way 

 to scare the parents, and owing to a sharp 

 little eminence fortunately providing a 

 stance from which the nest could be well 

 viewed, its immediate surroundings were 

 neither touched nor trodden. 



Neither McLean or myself were ever 

 within nine feet of the nest, and, as I have 

 said, the herbage around was untouched. 

 We, moreover, always left the vicinity 

 immediately on the completion of any neces- 

 sary work, and in the open country the 

 Harriers could not but have witnessed our 

 departure. 



Nevertheless, these birds deserted their 

 nestlings, for on the 10th, when McLean 

 went to move the break nearer, the chicks 

 were dead. 



Now, as these Harriers must have circled 

 above their offspring, and seen them, not 

 as eggs, mind you, but sprawling in the 

 nest, moreover, probably also heard them 

 calling, this desertion argues an almost 

 incredible heartlessness. During the second 

 week in November I got another Harrier's 

 nest. It was built in a swamp of very tall 



