54 OUR BACKDOOR NEIGHBORS 



the down, they were eighteen days old, and it 

 was at that time that the picture was taken. 

 From this time on, the birds grew very fast, 

 and a great change could be noticed in their 

 appearance from day to day. Ten days later 

 they were nearly fledged and beginning to 

 threaten to leave the nest. At times they 

 would walk out on the limbs of the tree as 

 though preparing for flight. 



During these days the Naturalist was mak- 

 ing daily visits to see how the birds grew, and 

 also to see what became of Tommy Jones's 

 chickens. The parent birds were very shy, 

 and usually left as quickly as possible on his 

 approach. Father and Mother Red-tail, on 

 the other hand, remained close at hand, 

 anxiously watching, whenever he visited their 

 nest. Mother Sparrow Hawk at times refused 

 to leave her young when newly hatched, even 

 when he approached within two feet of her. 

 Mother Screech Owl had even permitted him 

 to lift her from the nest when her babies were 

 little, and attacked him furiously after he had 

 released her, but neither Mother nor Father 

 Cooper Hawk would take any chances on re- 

 maining to see what happened when he visited 

 their nest. He was never able to approach 



