164 WOODLAND CREATURES 



some brown tufts peep out amid the white down 

 of the back and breast ; meanwhile they flap 

 their little wings and practise for the day when 

 they will be strong enough, and bold enough, 

 to hop out of the nest on to some of the nearer 

 branches. The fact that the young hawks grow- 

 ing feathers are free from " hunger traces " shows 

 how well their parents keep them supplied, and 

 that they have never been allowed to go short 

 of food, for when the feathers of young birds 

 are coming down rapidly a fast is recorded in 

 a most unmistakable fashion, namely by trans- 

 parent lines across the webbing of the feathers, 

 particularly those of the tail and wings. If you 

 did not know that these markings were hunger 

 traces, you might suppose a knife had been drawn 

 across the feathers, but they are caused by the 

 check that the growing feathers receive when 

 the nestling has to go without food. 



As soon as they are fully feathered the eyasses 

 (to use the old-fashioned term for young hawks) 

 become restless, and an adventurous spirit 

 develops among them; they are no longer con- 

 tent to look over the edge of their platform 

 of twigs, but scramble about the nest, mntil one, 

 bolder than its fellows, hops out on to one of 

 the nearer boughs. After this they perch about 

 on the branches, but keep near home, so as not 

 to miss their parents when they return with pro- 

 visions. Up to this point in their development 

 their tail-feathers have not grown so much as the 

 rest of their plumage, but once they reach the 



