182 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



taker of the two. He might, therefore, often have met the 

 female as she was leaving or preparing to leave the home-wood, 

 with fresh quarry, and if this was sometimes taken by her, as 

 being the more eager of the two in the actual feeding of the 

 chicks, the present system might have gradually grown out of 

 these elements. It is common, moreover, for the hen bird to 

 brood her chicks longer and oftener than the male, and this 

 would also have helped in the formation of the habit. 



In an article entitled " My Eyas-Musket," which appeared 

 in * Country Life ' of November 6th, 1909, and in which the 

 domestic habits of a pair of Sparrow-Hawks are recorded, it is 

 stated that, during two days, the prey brought in to the nest by 

 the female was already plucked and decapitated, that the young 

 were fed on the entrails only, and that the remains were carried 

 away by the mother bird. My observations of June 23rd and 

 27th tend to corroborate, taken together, the first two of these 

 statements, but my position on the ground, and at some distance, 

 did not allow me to see more positively, or to confirm the im- 

 pressions then gained. What is said in regard to the plucking 

 justifies my inference that this is done by the male, since I was 

 able to conclude with certainty that the female did not pluck 

 what she received from him before flying with it to the nest ; 

 yet, as now appears, it is plucked when she reaches it. Only 

 **to some extent," however, and therefore, as I never saw the 

 female pluck it even then, I conclude that a good many feathers 

 are swallowed by her. The final statement that the remains of 

 the birds brought to the nest are removed from it by the female 

 is at variance with what I observed, and although, owing to my 

 not very advantageous position in regard to the nest itself, such 

 removal might have been missed by me, on this or that occasion, 

 yet owing to the sudden and unpremeditated manner in which 

 many of these exits were made, and the special purpose of 

 others, I am certain that in the great majority of cases the bird 

 did not remove anything, though her feeding, once, shortly after 

 leaving the nest, and without having joined the male, is suscep- 

 tible of this interpretation, as well as the one I have suggested— 

 a previous deposit, namely. The ' Country Life ' chicks were, 

 however, a fortnight old, and the observations in connection 

 with their feeding extended over two days only. The chicks in 



