140 RIVERBY 



vicinity of chipmunks and squirrels. Farther and 

 farther he was compelled to hunt the surrounding 

 farms and woods to keep up with the demands of 

 the hawk. By the time the hawk was ready to fly 

 he had consumed twenty-one chipmunks, fourteen 

 red squirrels, sixteen mice, and twelve English spar- 

 rows, besides a lot of butcher's meat. 



His plumage very soon began to show itself, 

 crowding off tufts of the down. The quills on his 

 great wings sprouted and grew apace. What a 

 ragged, uncanny appearance he presented! but his 

 look of extreme age gradually became modified. 

 What a lover of the sunlight he was! We would 

 put him out upon the grass in the full blaze of the 

 morning sun, and he would spread his wings and 

 bask in it with the most intense enjoyment. In 

 the nest the young must be exposed to the full power 

 of the midday sun during our first heated terms in 

 June and July, the thermometer often going up to 

 ninety-three or ninety-five degrees, so that sunshine 

 seemed to be a need of his nature. He liked the 

 rain equally well, and when put out in a shower 

 would sit down and take it as if every drop did him 

 good. 



His legs developed nearly as slowly as his wings. 

 He could not stand steadily upon them till about ten 

 days before he was ready to fly. The talons were 

 limp and feeble. When we came with food he 

 would hobble along toward us like the worst kind 

 of a cripple, dropping and moving his wings, and 

 treading upon his legs from the foot back to the 



