94 BIRD BIOGRAPHIES 



the instant they heard this warning cry. 

 Quickly they ran to shelter, crept under- 

 neath a grass tuft, and kept quite still 

 until they heard the soft call of their 

 mother near. But all the time their 

 parents were calling out their warning 

 cries and attacking the Crow, they kept 

 in hiding. 



It was not often that I saw the babies 

 when I went to the top of the hill. 

 One bright morning I gave a lengthy 

 search, and eventually found one of 

 them. It was crouching on the ground, 

 with its tiny head pushed under a grass 

 tuft, and just the slightest vestige of a 

 bright black diamond peering through 

 the green, but the instant the young 

 bird knew that I had found it, it 

 jumped up and ran fast across the moor. 

 I went after it, and soon had it in my 

 hands. How scared the parents were, 

 and how they tried to protect their 

 babies ! It is surprising what ruses 



