THE BUZZARD 35 



the first fortnight one of the old birds 

 will remain at the nest to look after the 

 young, and if disturbed it will behave 

 in the same manner as when it had eggs 

 that is, it circles over its home calling 

 loudly. The instant the young bird 

 hears this cry of alarm, no matter how 

 young it is, it will squat low in the nest, 

 and as long as the old birds cry it will 

 remain almost motionless ; but when the 

 cries cease, if we successfully hide our- 

 selves near the nest, we notice what an 

 energetic little creature it is. It stands 

 up in the nest, usually upon a piece of 

 food that has been placed there, and 

 with its powerful beak commences to pull 

 pieces off. I once watched one of these 

 baby Buzzards for several hours, and 

 one incident amused me very much. 

 The youngster had a rabbit in the nest, 

 and it had hold of a rather tough piece 

 of skin and it made the most strenuous 

 efforts to pull this off; for many minutes 



