VOL. xm.] SOME HABITS OF SPARROW-HAWK. 119 



the bird could be due to hatch : in one all the eggs were 

 infertile. 



In the first of these, before the eggs hatched, as soon as 

 the sun fully got on the nest the bird would stand up on the 

 rim, and preen and stretch herself. She would never stand 

 for long, but do a bit, then sit, and then get up and do a little 



Fig. I. Sparrow-Hawk : Preening. 

 {Photogi aphed by J. H. Owen.) 



more. At other times she used merely to stand up to stretch 

 and after a minute or so brood again. When the young were 

 hatched she usually confined herself to stretching, and did 

 much less preening. During the nestling period, however, 

 there was always considerable wind, and the sun never really 

 worried her even when it was full on the nest, as the days were 

 seldom reallv hot. 



