86 WOODLAND CREATURES 



slipped off the nest and flew away through the 

 bushes. Hardly had she gone than the male 

 bullfinch arrived with the food. His " taken 

 aback " look when he found she had vanished 

 was quite laughable; however, he fed and 

 attended to the young before flitting away in 

 the direction in which she had disappeared. 

 Evidently when the young are first hatched the 

 cock does all the foraging, supplying both his mate 

 and the family with food at intervals varying 

 from fifteen minutes up to half an hour. I noted 

 the next day that though the female left the nest 

 twice she did riot bring back food, while the male 

 arrived each time with his crop bulging with 

 what he had gathered. As a rule he divided his 

 supplies with the hen, the latter having backed off 

 the nest when she heard him coming. When she 

 had received her share, they would stand on either 

 side of the frail structure, and feed and attend 

 to the nestlings. They would gaze at the mites 

 with what looked like intense pride and affection, 

 and when the hen settled down to brood again 

 she seemed the personification of motherly love. 

 All the time I watched her I never saw her doze 

 or even close her eyes, though at times the heat 

 was oppressive enough to send any creature to 

 sleep. Her keen black eyes never even winked, 

 and she always seemed on the alert. The flat, 

 black, somewhat hawklike heads of the bullfinches, 

 with their strong thick bills, always reminded me, for 

 some unknown reason, of the wall paintings of hawk- 

 headed gods on the ancient Egyptian monuments ! 



