OR, PLAIN TEACHING. 



241 



sometimes 

 adopting 

 the aban- 

 doned nest 

 of a crow. 

 The bird 

 will occa- 

 sional ly 

 build itself 

 a nest of 

 slender 

 twigs, in a 633 - 

 low tree, or thorn bush. The eggs 

 are usually four or five, spotted 

 with red at the larger end. 



About the 10th of July. (says White, in his 

 "Natural History of Selbourne"), a pair of 

 sparrow-hawks bred in an old crow's nest on a 

 low beech in Selbourne Hanger, and as their 

 brood, which was numerous, began to grow up, 

 became so daring and ravenous, that they 

 were a terror to all the dames in the village who 

 had chickens or ducklings under their care. 

 A boy climbed the tree, and found the young so 

 fledged, that they all escaped from him ; but he 

 discovered that a good house had been kept — 

 the larder was well stocked with provisions, for 

 he brought down a young blackbird, jay, and 

 house-marten, all clean picked, and some half- 

 devoured. The old birds had been seen to make 

 sad havoc for some days among the new-flown 

 swallows and martens, which, being lately out 

 of their nests, had not acquired those powers 

 and command of wing that enable them, when 

 more mature, to set enemies at defiance. 



The kite, 2, chooses for the 

 place of its nest the fork of a 

 thick tree, 

 where it is 

 concealed 

 by the 

 bran ches 

 and the 

 foliage, 

 generally 

 about half- 

 w a y up. 

 The exter- 

 nal part of 

 the nest is 

 formed of twigs, the interior 

 lined with wool. Two or three 

 eggs of a whitish colour, spotted 

 with yellow. 



11 



The kite, though its motions in the air are 

 free and graceful, is not in the habit of preying 

 there. It feeds on the ground, or sometimes 

 cv?n on the surface of the water, from which it 

 can twitch up a floating animal substance with 

 great dexterity. It feeds principally on young 

 animals, such as those of game birds, hares, 

 rabbits, and even lambs, especially when the 

 latter are sickly. It devours mice, large insects, 

 worms, snails, &c, in great numbers; and will 

 feed on carrion whenever it finds an opportunity. 



The buzzard, 3, seeks out the 

 densest woods for its retreat, and 

 there, generally taking posses- 

 sion of the old nest of a crow, 



it improves the fabric by putting 

 it into a state of repair, and 

 lining it with wool. It lays two 

 or three eggs, sometimes entirely 

 white, at others tinted with 

 yellow. 



The buzzard remains for hours watching from 

 the same tree, appearing to prefer the accidental 

 approach of an animal that may serve for a 

 meal, rather than find it by a laborious search. 

 Though occasionally seen soaring in the air in 

 circles, it is much more frequently stationed on 

 a tree, from which, if approached, it bustles out 

 with a confused and hurried flight, indicative 

 of fear. 



Owls, 4, love the hollows of 

 old trees, and the clefts of ivy- 

 covered rocks and walls. When 

 intruded upon in their nests, 

 they throw themselves back, 

 hissing and snapping at the 

 invader. Their eggs are usually 

 six, round in form, and without 

 colour. 



