Birds Driving Away their Young 211 



" drive away their young as soon as they are able to look 

 after themselves." Neither in regard to the Corvid<e> nor 

 amongst other birds, has he ever been able to convince 

 himself that anything of the kind existed, while 'he has 

 noted much that clearly pointed in the opposite direction. 

 The family parties of Kestrels, hunting a hillside together, 

 must be a familiar sight to many people, and they may 

 also be seen roosting in company in rock or wood. Where 

 they occur, similar parties of Buzzards, and other hawks, 

 sleep and hunt in close proximity without serious disagree- 

 ment. So do Kingfishers, Woodpeckers, Owls, and many 

 other birds, against which charges of driving their young 

 away have been brought. I one day saw a party of six 

 Peregrine Falcons dash like so many pigeons into a 

 precipice at night to roost together, as late as the end of 

 July, and shall not soon forget the sight. The fact seems 

 to be that none of these birds show any more tendency to 

 bully their young than do other more familiar species, and 

 it is not until the development of the wandering instinct, 

 common to most birds in autumn, has asserted itself, that 

 the family circles are broken up. It is then, perhaps, 

 generally the young who depart first, and the adults may 

 remain in their accustomed haunts throughout the year, 

 but in many cases it is just the reverse that happens. With 

 some species, and Ravens are amongst the number, it is 

 the old birds that are the first to desert their nesting 

 quarters, and this they probably do as soon as the young 

 are able to look after themselves. Whether they then 

 merely adjourn to some not far distant roosting place, 

 which is the general winter rendezvous of the species, or 

 go on a more extended journey, we have no information 

 upon which to base an opinion, and probably never will 

 have ; but, in any case, it is quite certain that some of the 

 winter assemblies contain far more than all the locally 

 breeding birds put together, and how many of the latter 

 they include is chiefly a matter of conjecture. Certain 

 individuals, conspicuous by reason of white feathers or 

 otherwise, have been known to resort for years to a 

 particular station, whether in winter or summer, but 



