28 IN THE GREEN LEAF 



forked twig gets hampered up, then vicious 

 digs are given, and the feet go to work with 

 a will. The other day I saw one of the rook 

 patriarchs, living close to us, in a fix. He was 

 finishing off the edge of his nursery, and had 

 got into a bother with a couple of twigs. He 

 dug, clawed, yelped, barked, and gurgled in his 

 throat as if possessed. If that rook was not 

 relieving his mind by the use of very unparlia- 

 mentary language, I am very much mistaken. 



The site of a sparrow-hawk's nest having 

 been selected, both birds set to work enlarging 

 it, and forming a kind of twig platform of live 

 twigs, generally fir twigs, all round it. When 

 the young are out, the old birds use the outer 

 rim or platform to place their quarries on, to 

 break them up to feed their young. It is 

 some time before any young bird of any of the 

 raptores can feed for itself. Even when fully 

 feathered, and compelled by their parents to 

 take short flights from tree to tree, so that their 

 flight feathers may get strengthened, they still 

 gather at the call of their parents to be fed. 

 And a well-provided larder is theirs. 



Here is a list of the food taken from off rim 

 of the nest of a voracious family of sparrow- 

 hawks, two old birds and four well-feathered 



