110 WILD LIFE IN THE TREE TOPS 



that I had hoped for many years to have the opportunity of watching and 

 perhaps photographing the growth of a family of them from the time that they 

 emerged from the egg until the day that they left the nest. 



Not until the summer of this year of 1921 was I able to fulfil my ambition. 

 I should not even then have been able to do so had it not been for the 

 kindness of the proprietor of the estate in agreeing that the hawks should 

 not be molested. 



Towards the end of May the nest, w^hich was built in an oak-tree, held six 

 beautifully blotched eggs, that I judged were only slightly set. I was somewhat 

 surprised to find that this was the case, as the bird had sat very tightly when I 

 approached the tree, and I had rather expected to find that the nest contained 

 young. 



It was not until June 12 that the eggs were ' chipping,' by which time the 

 observation post was nearing completion, and it was on that day, whilst inside 

 it arranging the finishing touches, that I first saw the female Sparrow Hawk 

 at close quarters. 



The building of the observation post, which was 11 feet from the hawk's 

 nest, had, of course, covered quite a long period, and until this particular day 

 I had never remained in it for very long, in case the hawk should return to her 

 nest whilst I was inside, for my sudden appearance would no doubt have 

 scared her very considerably. On this occasion, however, I had decided to 

 finish the job, and thinking that the hawk might return before I had done so, 

 I had taken the precaution of tying to the end of the rope which I used for 

 climbing to the observation post a couple of branches ; so that, by jerking 

 the rope up and down, the branches would clatter on the ground and the hawk, 

 thinking that some one was walking under the trees, would leave the nest, and 

 so give me the opportunity of decamping unnoticed. 



But although I had half expected that she might return, I experienced 

 quite a shock when, on peeping through the observation hole on to the nest, I 

 saw that she was preparing to cover the eggs ! She really was a magnificent 

 creature, and, judging by the extraordinary blue of her back, she must have been 

 very old ; in fact she was almost as blue as the male, who later on occasionally 

 visited the nest, and seemed by her side to be quite a pigmy hawk. Still, 

 he was in beautiful order, and had brighter cheeks, breast, and thigh tufts than 

 his mate. 



It was indeed a delight to watch so beautiful a bird at such close range 

 particularly as she took no notice of any slight movements within the observa- 

 tion post. 



When I returned to my friends that evening, I was so pleased with my 

 experience that I tried to induce them to agree to sit in the observation post 

 for an hour or so one day, just for the joy of watching at such wonderfully 

 close range, and in such comparative comfort, one of our shyest birds. But 



