FIRST APPEARANCES OF BIRDS, INSECTS, ETC. 181 



are very crude, and they smother themselves 

 and each other with blood, and altogether are 

 not a pretty spectacle at meal times. After 

 this they all settled for a nap, but kept on 

 fidgetting, though the restlessness of one chick 

 does not appear to incommode his neighbour. 

 2.0 One of the parents sailed over and the 

 young birds called, and then went to sleep. 

 2.30 One of the young woke up and started 

 picking over fragments in the nest. 

 2.45 The male arrived with prey. He sat for 

 about three minutes on a neighbouring tree, 

 during which time the young called vigorously ; 

 and then he came to the nest, dropped the 

 prey, and was gone like a flash. 

 3.0 The young were very busy picking over 

 remains in the nest. The female was sitting 

 in a tree about 50 yards away, and spent the 

 following half hour making her toilet. This 

 she did by stretching her wings over her feet 

 and running her claws through the feathers, 

 and raking the feathers under her wings with 

 her bill. 



At 3.40 she sailed off. 



At 4.10 male returned and called for the female. 

 As she did not reply he flashed into the nest, 

 dropped the prey Mus sylvaticus, the Long- 

 tailed Field Mouse, and was gone. He how- 

 ever returned, took up a position near at hand ; 

 and then the female turned up and tore up the 

 prey. At 4.40 the female herself brought prey 

 and fed the young, though she left the nest 

 several times during the process, and returned. 

 At 5 p.m. the female was still near the nest ; but 

 as the light had gone off we decided to pack. 

 When we came out of the tents the female 

 sailed off about 50 yards and sat up to watch us. 



