A FINCH OF ROSEATE HUE 79 



of birds of prey. It must as a rule be the bolder spirits 

 — ^those that refuse to take refuge in the foUage at 

 every alarm — ^that fall victims to the sparrow-hawk. 

 The more nervous ones escape and transmit their 

 innate nervousness to their offspring. There has thus 

 arisen a race of little birds as nervous as horses. 



Before a minute has passed the rose-finches, who 

 have taken refuge in a tree, perceive that there was no 

 ground for alarm. They then drop to the ground in 

 twos and threes, so that, although the birds begin to 

 return almost as soon as they have fled into the 

 fohage, some little time elapses before the whole of 

 the flock is again seeking food on the ground. The re- 

 formation of a flock is a pretty sight — a shower of 

 little birds falling from a tree like leaves in autumn. 



