168 FIELD-STUDIES OF RARER BIRDS 



by the female, lasts for one egg a lunar month 

 exactly, but, of course, some few days longer must 

 be allowed for the remainder to hatch. 



The young in the down are pleasing studies in 

 greyish plush ; they remain in their birthplace for 

 six weeks, more or less. To begin with, they 

 grow very slowly, being, when a fortnight old, 

 only the size of a man's fist, but when the pen- 

 feathers begin to sprout on the sixteenth day they 

 increase in bulk rapidly. Whilst in the nest they 

 often keep the beak wide open, and even pant as 

 if oppressed by the heat ; and as they wax larger 

 and lustier, strange bickerings ensue ; indeed, 

 it is to be feared that the strongest often bullies 

 its fellow nestlings unmercifully. Sometimes, in 

 fact, one, or even two, vanish from the eyrie : 

 from which fact has arisen rumours of cannibalism, 

 it being conjectured though by no means proved 

 that the strongest eats the others, or that the 

 parents, iinding much ado to keep body and soul 

 in their entire family, end their difficulty by ending 

 the life of one or more of the brood, leaving per- 

 haps one only to be reared ! All I can say is 

 that, if this be true, it is against all principles of 

 nature, nor does it comply with the recognised 

 habits of the other birds of prey, excepting, some- 

 times, with the Golden Eagle's. Moreover, I 

 have known many a brood of Buzzards both twos 

 and three fly intact from eyries situate in the mos.t 

 dismally wild, rocky regions to those in com- 



