The butcher delivers the meat in mid-air. 27 
pick up any morsel that misses a youngster’s beak and drops into 
the eyrie and carefully offers it again. He holds the quarry firmly 
under one foot and tears pieces off with his beak. He holds each 
piece loosely in the tip of his beak and, tilting his head sideways, 
offers it to a youngster, who takes it most gently with its own beak- 
points crosswise to his. 
With some mouthfuls they get a good deal of feathers and 
bone, but with the internal parts, intestines, etc., none at all. One 
youngster had a job with one of the thrush’s legs, the foot and 
claws still sticking out of its mouth for a long time; but eventually 
it got it down. At 5.20 a.m. the long-drawn-out food cry of the 
Falcon is heard again. He immediately replies and flies out to her, 
and there is much noise above; but I cannot see the birds. He 
brings in a small bird, a rock-pipit, intact, and I wonder if it is the 
same bird I have heard singing at intervals during the last hour 
or so. After feeding the young, in which I notice again that the 
only parts of the quarry which are not used up are the flight and 
tail-feathers, which he pulls out and drops, he jumps on to rock C 
and stands there for some time. Suddenly there is the long- 
drawn-out food cry of the Falcon again, and he immediately replies 
and flies out to her, when she transfers something rather small— 
part of a plucked bird—-to his talons in mid-air. She was carrying 
it in her left foot, and he took it from her with his left foot. He 
flies down somewhere behind the hut and evidently has his break- 
fast ; it looks as if she plucked the food more thoroughly for him 
than for the young. This was at 5.45 a.m., and five minutes later 
he returns and broods, first picking up a few small, dry pieces and 
giving them to the young. It is quite evident that he is the 
housekeeper, and that she does the hunting and catering. He 
makes a model father, but never attempts to hunt quarry himself, 
merely watching for her return. It is now 6.45 a.m., and the 
Tiercel has been on the look-out for the Falcon for some time. He 
is evidently getting anxious for her return, as he keeps moving 
from one point to another, occasionally closing his eyes and 
dozing, but making no attempt to hunt himself. 7 a.m.: No 
sign of the Falcon. The Tiercel has gone to sleep on C and the 
young are getting restless. 7.20 a.m.: The Falcon arrives and 
