THE BUZZARD 37 



first is very much stronger than its 

 weaker brother. When the parents bring 

 food to the nest at long intervals, this 

 strong, healthy youngster runs forward 

 to meet them, and the weaker bird is 

 driven away with pushes and pecks, and 

 in some cases prevented from taking food, 

 and the stronger bird obtains most of it. 

 Then, again, when the parents are away 

 for any length of time, the first bird 

 begins sparring at its companion, and if 

 it should draw blood, then it at once 

 commences to eat it. The weaker goes 

 to the wall, and the stronger survives. 



I have mentioned this theory of mine 

 before, and several well-known naturalists 

 have stated in print that it is nothing 

 more or less than a " fairy tale." Well, 

 I suppose that these writers have never 

 spent more than a day at a time in the 

 Buzzard's haunt, and I know that in the 

 case of one of the men, his only experi- 

 ence with the Buzzard in a wild state 



