no BIRDS OF THE WATER 



It was an action of extraordinary neat- 

 ness, and executed with acrobatic exactitude. 

 After a short time, probably finding that 

 he would not approach her, the hen flew 

 off her nest and took it from him. 



It is not to be thought, however that a 

 pale of desolation reigns round about the 

 Falcon's nest. 



From different coverts ased by me on 

 different nests could be heard the Warbler 

 trilling, the Fantail creaking, and the calls 

 of Thrush, Quail, Waxeye, Blackbird, Lark, 

 Redpole, and Chaffinch. All these species 

 seem to dweU in the dangerous vicinity of 

 the Falcon, as folk camp serenely on the 

 slopes of a volcano slumbering, but which 

 may at any moment break out afresh; or 

 it may be that, like station collies who 

 have taken to worrying, the Falcon prefers 

 to do his killing far afield. 



The eggs, two, or less frequently, three in 

 number, are so thickly peppered and 

 sprmkled with red as to quite obscure the 

 ground colour. The young Falcon, when 

 first hatched are covered with white down, 

 as their age increases it changes to grey 



