WITH THE BIRDS IN WALES 115 



of this species, whilst I caught a fleeting ghmpse of 

 the female Hawk gliding through the sombre firs. 

 Just as we were about to start for home, G. V. found 

 the real article. It was only some fifteen feet up 

 the tree, built on two or three horizontal branches, 

 and appeared to be ready for eggs, but I very much 

 doubt if it will contain any before May turns, for 

 this Hawk has a curious habit of leaving its nest 

 finished for some time before laying ; indeed, I have 

 known three weeks elapse before the first egg was 

 laid, but a week or ten days is the usual interval. 

 There were one or two fir-twigs in the nest with the 

 green shoots still on (as is the almost invariable 

 habit of this Hawk), as well as a few flakes of down. 

 On the way home we found several Robins' nests and 

 a Long-tailed Tit's (the bird was sitting hard in 

 this latter, with her long tail pointing out of the hole 

 over her head). 



April 20tJi. — I inspected the Goldcrest's nest in the 

 yew, and found that there were no eggs as yet, and 

 later in the day G. V. and I looked up the Brown 

 Owl's nest in the stump on the hillside, as well as the 

 pole- or marten-cat's bury. We watched the aerial 

 evolutions of a Kestrel for some time over the hill- 

 side, and I almost think that a pair mean to nest in 

 the ravine there later on. G. V. thinks that the bury 

 belongs to a marten-cat — a rarity indeed. The Owls 

 appeared to be flourishing, and we found the badger 

 "set" well used. I noticed that some one had been 

 up one of the larches in my largest fir plantation, 

 after what 1 take to be an old Sparrow-hawk's 

 nest. 



