248 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. xv. 



The 29th and 30th were extremely hot days (and the 

 intervening night intensely cold!). The young now sought 

 shelter from the direct rays of the sun under the surrounding 

 heather most of the day, but even there they lay listlessly 

 and panted open-mouthed. They took a keen interest in 

 the flies, periodically snapping at them. In the cool of the 

 evening they went farther afield, every now and then running 

 full tilt across the nest. They also expended much energy 

 climbing up on to the heather stalks and scrambling down 

 again. For the first time the biggest of the family attempted 

 to feed themselves properly, putting their feet on the prey 

 and rending it in imitation of their mother. Their wings 

 were developing, but were still heavy in down. The 

 stage may be seen in the photographs of the bird stretching 

 and the one feeding. They were taken on the 29th and 30th 

 respectively. 



By the ist of August the backs were getting well 

 feathered, while feathers were also appearing on the head 

 and breast. There was one exception, however — the little 

 backward chap, whose head was still completely downy. 

 They climbed more frequently on to the heather and would 

 sit there for many minutes together, as though trying to 

 get used to the sensation of being in the air. Instead of 

 scrambling down they would now jump the last few inches 

 with wings outspread. They would also stretch their 

 growing wings by standing on one foot only and using the 

 other to spread out the feathers of the wing on that side. 

 Then they would stand on the other leg and reverse. In 

 fact, they were developing into real big birds and were 

 trying big things. Like all beginners, they could not 

 accomplish everything they tried. Amongst the odds and 

 ends in the nest was the head of a Pipit with the whole 

 windpipe attached to it. This one of the bigger ones tried 

 for half an hour to swallow, but in the end had to leave it 

 where he found it. He swallowed the trachea successfully, 

 but could not open his little beak wide enough to accommodate 

 the head. Many minutes of vicious jerking and stretching 

 of the jaws failed to get it in, though the windpipe was 

 stowed away safely enough, two long inches of it. The 

 only thing to do was to put his foot on the head of the Pipit 

 and pull everything out again. He then had another good 

 look at it and once again swallowed the trachea, only to 

 find that both the head and his jaws were the same size as 

 before, and that even more vigorous jerks than previously 

 failed to bring the prize nearer home. Once again the whole 



