154 WOODLAND CREATURES 



He was too startled to hold it, and it dashed off 

 again in a great flurry and hurry. He said he 

 did not know which was the more astonished, 

 he or the bird ! 



To go back to the young birds in the nest, 

 they grow rapidly, and are soon able to sit 

 up, but it is some time before they can balance 

 on their long thin legs. To begin with their 

 eyes are a watery grey-green, only becoming 

 yellow when they are full fledged. The colour 

 of the irides deepens with age, becoming a 

 beautiful orange in old hawks. As their strength 

 develops the eyasses begin to tear up food for 

 themselves, and about the same time brown 

 feathers begin to peep through the white down, 

 when the family will vary much in appearance 

 the eldest female being a week or more ahead 

 of the youngest male. The latter is often much 

 behind the others, but I have never known him 

 get " lost," as so often happens to the weakly 

 member of an owl family. In the latter case 

 I fear the word " lost " covers an ugly murder 

 by the stronger members of the party. 



Young sparrow hawks grow at a great pace, 

 but it is about a month before they are able 

 to leave the nest and venture out upon the 

 surrounding branches; even then they do not 

 leave the nest for good, still using it as head- 

 quarters and as a dining-table. It is to the 

 old platform that their hard-working little 

 father brings his contributions, and to which 

 their mother also fetches food, calling them to 



