194 
OUR HOME BIRDS. 
found a young male that had dropped from the nest 
before it was able to fly. Its cries for food attracted 
my notice, and I discovered it lying near a log. It 
was large and covered with soft white down, through 
which the young feathers protruded. Its little blue 
bill and great gray eyes made it look not unlike an 
owl. I took it home, named it Nero, and provided 
it with small birds, at which it would scramble 
fiercely, although yet unable to tear their flesh, in 
which I assisted it. 
“ ‘ In a few weeks it grew very beautiful, and be- 
came so voracious, requiring a great number of birds 
daily, that I turned it out to see how it would shift 
for itself. This proved a gratification to both of us ; 
it soon hunted for grasshoppers and other insects ; 
and on returning from my walks I now and then 
threw a dead bird high in air, which it never failed 
to receive from its stand, and toward which it 
launched with such quickness as sometimes to catch 
it before it fell to the ground. 
“ ‘ The little fellow attracted the notice of his 
brothers, brought up hard by, who, accompanied by 
their parents, at first gave it chase and forced it to 
take refuge behind one of the window-shutters, where 
it usually passed the night; but they soon became 
gentler toward it, as if forgiving its desertion. 
“ ‘ To the last he continued kind to me, and never 
