18 —<And his angry amazon. 
noiseless. As I had now used twenty-four plates, I was sorry I 
had not brought more, but never having been able to use more 
than six previously, I thought I had brought ample. The Tiercel 
finished by stretching his wings, first his left, after which he turned 
to look at the young, then the right, and then he hopped down 
and brooded them till 12.15 p.m., when he flew off, calling for food. 
At 12.30 I heard his wings flap and saw him alight on B. He was 
wet and draggled, as if after a bath. Then he jumped down and 
brooded the young. About 12.45 he jumped on to A, calling the 
food cry, and flew off. From 1 p.m. to 1.30 the Falcon seemed 
to be trying to make up her mind to return to the eyrie. As I had 
no plates, I sat ‘and watched, and so there were no signs of life in 
the shed to interfere with the proceedings. She several times 
flew into the eyrie and then jumped on to either B or A, scowling 
and thrusting her head forward in sudden jerks, peered in all direc- 
tions and then flew off, crying the alarm. The Tiercel was all the 
time calling to her and apparently flying from rock to rock. It 
was neither the alarm nor the food cry, and as I suppose that as 
these two easily-learned cries do not comprise the whole of their 
language, it was presumably a conversation. Once when she 
was standing in the eyrie, with her back to the youngsters, and 
peering anxiously in all directions, he came down with a thump 
on to the roof of the shed and talked to her as if assuring her of her 
perfect safety, while I kept very still in case any unfortunate 
movement might alarm my gallant ally. After a few minutes 
I could breathe more freely, as he jumped down on to C and con- 
tinued his speech. 
Then she broke her gloomy silence, and seemed to be giving 
him a bit of her mind. She was evidently in a towering rage, and 
both together were making the most extraordinary sounds. She 
hissed and clucked and he yelped and yapped. At one time she 
stood there like a fury, spitting and snarling at him, her scowling 
head lowered, and with all her neck feathers bristling up she took 
half a step forward as if for two pins she would kill him where he 
stood. Then both flew off. The Tiercel returned in about ten 
minutes, and stood by the young in the eyrie, but paid no attention 
to them. He looked annoyed and disappointed. If some may 
