258 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. xv. 



after a few minutes silence she would appear, as noiselessly 

 as a ghost, on the edge of the nest. If she did not want food 

 she absolutely ignored the cock and he flew round calling for 

 a period extending up to twenty minutes. He then devoured 

 what he had brought himself and proceeded to hunt again. 

 The intervals between returns varied from an hour and a 

 quarter to two hours. On one occasion, while Nott was in 

 the hut, the hen brought the food, a young Blackbird nearly 

 intact, to the nest, and began to eat it there. After a time 

 he must have made some movement which she heard for she 

 flew away with the body and returned soon after without it. 

 Later on the cock used to fly to a particular branch of a tree 

 near and in full view of the hut, while the hen was taking 

 exercise after leaving the nest. When she was ready for food 

 she flew towards this branch, but below it. When she was 

 within a few yards of it the cock slipped off and dropped the 

 prey and she caught it unerringly as she passed by. I saw 

 this done repeatedly, especially during late incubation and 

 early nestling times. 



My observations convince me more and more that the cock 

 takes no share in incubation. Many keepers assure me that 

 he does. They shoot the hen and then trap the cock on 

 the nest and this satisfies them. It is no proof. Not one of 

 these cocks that I have seen shows any sign of having taken 

 any share in the duties of incubation. His presence at the 

 nest I put down to anxiety as to the welfare of the hen. I 

 give just one case in proof of my theory. In July 1921 I 

 knew of a nest belonging to a very old pair of hawks ; they 

 had only two eggs and these (second laying) were infertile. 

 Both birds were in an advanced state of moult. As the 

 keeper of the wood was set on killing them I asked him to 

 let me do it for the purpose of helping to justify my theory. 

 I got the hen and then waited. In a very few minutes I 

 heard the cock call in the distance. Then he came nearer 

 and nearer, calling all the time more and more plaintively. 

 At last he settled on the tree next to the nest-tree and called. 

 As there was no answer he circled the nest-tree calling, and 

 alighted on a dead branch in full view of the nest and not far 

 from it. Here he gave one final appeal to the hen and then 

 very leisurely plucked and ate the small bird he was carrying. 

 After cleaning his feet and beak in the usual way he sat quite 

 motionless for a few minutes. Then after preening a little 

 he made another circuit of the nest-tree, calling as before, and 

 alighted in a tree some thirty yards from the nest, calling for 

 the last time. Then he flew on to the nest and looked at 



