IS 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XVJ 
While adjusting the camera it began to rain and the air became quite cool, caus- 
ing the little birds to huddle all together. I exposed four plates and started for 
home. The mother bird returned to the nest before 1 had reached the ground. 
The nest was visited again July 7 at 5:30 p. m . Drawing near the thicket ] 
heard one hawk calling, which appeared to be the female as she proved to he not 
on the nest. As 1 approached the tree both birds uttered their cries and liegan 
striking at me long before 1 reached the nest. 
Ascending to the nest I found five young birds showing slight differences in 
size. The last bird may have hatched on the 4th. They were lying close together 
Fig. 12. Four Young Sh.\rp-shinned Hawks in their Nest; the one resting 
AGAINST THE EGG IS TWO DAYS ODD, THE OTHERS ONE DAY OLD; 
PHOTOGRAPHED JULY ,1 
with their heads thrown liack, and seemed to have increased one-third in size since 
my last visit. There were no signs of food of any kind, only some hlood clots on 
the twigs near the nest cavity and a few small feathers on the outer edge of the 
nest. The young birds pecked at my finger but did not seem very hungry. The 
old birds were very ferocious, more so than before. The male struck one hard rap 
between my shoulders while I was examining the young, and the female kejit 
striking so close to my head as to make it very uncomfortable. After descending 
to the ground I hid near a small fir tree to watch the old birds. The female flew 
