618 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



time let it hang forward with beak down. 

 Bluebottle flies, attracted to the nest by 

 scraps of meat left by the falcons, were 

 flecked off her head and beak with a quick 

 twitch. 



THE WATCH ON THE LEDGE 



An hour and five minutes by the clock I 

 watched, and then the male sailed in, with- 

 out a sound from either bird to announce 

 his coming, and alighted on the ledge about 

 five feet from the female's head. For a few 

 moments after his arrival he uttered low 

 and not unmusical screams and stood with 

 head hung straight down, looking at his 

 feet — a pose more common with the 

 Cooper's hawk than with a falcon. 



After a few moments he ran quickly along 

 the edge of the ledge to the side of the 

 brooding female, who had not yet recog- 

 nized his presence by movement or call. 

 The moment he arrived, however, she 

 suddenly half-raised, with lower feathers 

 still puffed out, ran quickly out along the 

 ledge, and sailed away without uttering a 

 sound. 



The male looked the eggs over and started 

 to settle himself upon them in her place, but 

 his smaller size made it more difficult to 

 cover them and the operation appeared to 

 worry him . He hunched and shuffled around 

 carefully, but uncomfortably, and finally 

 tucked two eggs under his breast feathers 

 by nudging them along with his beak. 



Once fairly settled on the eggs, his anxiety 

 did not seem to end, and he humped him- 

 self up and buckled down to his task as if 

 the eggs had been on springs and might 

 shoot out from under him if he relaxed his 

 efforts for a moment. 



Within five minutes of getting settled, he 

 suddenly jumped up and sailed off the ledge 

 without a run. I think his scare was due 

 to noticing me for the first time, for no 

 other intruder had approached. 



SLEEP OVERTAKES THE NEST SENTINEL 



After perching near by and cackling half- 

 heartedly, he finally returned and settled 

 on the eggs as laboriously as before. He 

 wanted to be wild and wary, but times were 

 too dull. He became sleepier and sleepier 

 and finally dozed off completely. From 

 time to time he awoke to fleck flies off his 

 beak, but only once in four hours did he 

 move his body. 



Finally the sun began to strike the spot, 

 and after 1 p. m. he kept a sharp lookout 



for his mate. When she sailed in, about 

 2:35, he awaited no formalities, but im- 

 mediately jumped from the eggs into full 

 flight. 



The female looked at me and cackled 

 hoarsely, but soon settled herself on the 

 eggs with little of the difficulty and dis- 

 comfort her spouse had experienced. 



Soon after, I uncoiled my cramped legs 

 and called it a day. Five and a half hours 

 of steady watching, much of it through field 

 glasses, had been repaid by an interesting 

 glimpse into the division of labor in a falcon 

 family (see iUustrations, page 620). 



Further observation was delayed for two 

 weeks by a trip east, and when I slid down 

 the rope to the ledge on April 29 I found 

 five amiable young falcons huddled into a 

 single mass of white down, from which 

 heads, legs, and wings protruded indis- 

 criminately (see pages 614 and 615). 



The covering of down was scant enough, 

 so that their very pink skins showed plainly 

 through it. One or two of them sat up 

 from time to time and preened themselves. 

 They indulged, too, in many yawns and gave 

 faint whistling peeps. 



Between swoops in front of the cliff the 

 old birds sat in dead trees or on the face 

 of the bluff and yelled their disapproval of 

 me. 



"baby scales" — FOR YOUNG BIRDS 



A strong breeze was blowing from the 

 northwest on the afternoon of May 2, when 

 we again visited the cliff, and the male was 

 standing by the nest with his back to the 

 wind, screening the young. On our ap- 

 proach he sailed off to his own particular 

 lookout down the canyon; as I went over 

 the top the female appeared and both began 

 the usual circling and cackling. 



The youngsters showed very marked 

 growth, had far more down and far less 

 pink showing through, and were much more 

 alert than on my visit three days before. 

 The chalky-white knob, or "egg tooth," on 

 the end of the bill was nearly gone. 



For identification, I first tried clipping 

 the extreme tip of one claw; but this proved 

 somewhat unsatisfactory because of the 

 growth and wear, so I marked the five with 

 colored strings. With these as guides, a 

 separate weight record was started that con- 

 tinued for the rest of their nest lives, much 

 to the annoyance of the entire family. 



By the time the ceremonies for the day 

 were over, the young seemed both bored 



