Mr. W. E. Teschemakek



32



to be considering whether he ought to submit to such an indignity

or whether it would not be more consonant with his dignity to

give the amorous maiden one in the eye.


After this my log-book records but little concerning the

Hawfinches until the 28th May, when I found that they had pulled

up some coarse grass in a corner of their enclosure. On the 29th

they cairied some of this grass to a fork of a Py vacant his about

nine feet from the ground ; the male displayed a little, swinging

his body to and fro, as a Goldfinch does, and singing. O11 the

30th, I observed that the female looked queer, and on examining

her ladyship more closely came to the conclusion that she medi¬

tated laying an egg. This was serious because there was no nest.

Apparently they either did not know how to construct one, being

as I have said before young birds, or else they considered that it

was part of my official duties to provide one. The only two nests

that I have seen have been large, flattened structures composed of

twigs and roots lined with finer roots and, after several attempts, I

produced something distantly resembling this type of nest and

fixed it up with wire in the position they had chosen ; as the latter

was so exposed I surrounded the nest with a screen of cupressus

and holly. Having finished my job I retired to a distance to see

what the Hawfinches would think of it. It took them a long

time to find their way through the screen but, when they did

succeed in reaching the nest, their expressions were a study.

They stood in solemn silence and gazed at that nest and gazed

again ; apparently their thoughts were too deep for words. I

must admit that it was a somewhat weird structure. However

they finally decided to accept it and soon set to work and relined

it with green grass —I wonder why.


On the 2nd June the female commenced to sit; she alone

incubated and she sat so steadily that I never got a glimpse of

the eggs. She was fed on the nest by the male and, if she ever

left it, it must have been very early in the morning or at some

time when I was not watching. I fixed up a ladder in the

adjoining enclosure and, as the latter was loftier than that con¬

taining the Hawfinches, I was able to look down 011 the nest but,

even so, I was not able to see the young for several days after

they were hatched because the female refused to leave the nest.



