32 ODD HOURS WITH NATURE 



parent birds take a grouse or hare which is meant 

 for the provision of the young, they pluck their 

 prey clean of fur or feather before taking it to 

 the nest, and they have usually one place, which 

 becomes exceedingly well marked, for the purpose. 

 But the indifferently picked bones are left about 

 the nest, and in due course .become very high. 

 What is true of the eagle is true too of the larger 

 hawks. The vicinity of the nest of many sea- 

 birds becomes exceedingly foul, and the odour 

 arising from the putrid remains of fish becomes, 

 in the case of the cormorant, overwhelming. The 

 cormorant herself seems to sniff it in with appre- 

 ciation, and would probably think it a poor home 

 which did not smell of peace and plenty. One of 

 the dirtiest of birds' nests is that of the little 

 sand-martin, but the filth of it, consisting mainly 

 of fleas, is rather the bird's misfortune than its 

 fault. The martin is an expert insect catcher- 

 lives on insects, in fact and never varies its diet. 

 But it takes all its prey on the wing, and itself 

 becomes to a lamentable extent the prey of insects 

 which do not fly. In its case the aptera may 

 be said to avenge the wrongs committed daily, 

 hourly, momentarily on their far-away relatives, 

 the diptera, on which the swallows chiefly subsist. 



