The Windover’s 
Year. 
THE BIRD WORLD. 
(201) 
as he brings it home, to let her know he 
has prey for her. When the young ones 
hatch, they are fed on worms and insects 
until the white down has gone and their 
chestnut-brown feathers appear; after 
which Quicksight brings small lizards 
and mice for them to learn to eat; at 
first he has to pull them to pieces, but 
as they grow he lets them do that for 
themselves. 
One day a boy came along and seeing 
the nest climbed the tree, and to hi>s 
great delight finding the young birds, 
took two of them and put them in his 
pockets and climbed down the tree again, 
leaving Quicksight very angry and upset 
at the loss. The other three grow 
quickly, and one by one they learn to 
fly, and soon to catch beetles and worms. 
One day one of them flies on to a 
tempting-looking stump of a tree, when 
there is a click, and with a loud shriek 
it find its legs caught, and when it tries 
to flutter away the steel trap drags it 
down and it hangs in pain, and thirsting 
with fear and the hot sun until death 
comes to relieve it from a slow and 
horrible torture. The remaining young¬ 
sters grow fast, until they seem almost 
as strong as their parents, Quicksight 
and Sharpclaw; and when the autumn 
comes they are driven away to seek fresh 
haunts for themselves. 
Quicksight and Sharpclaw keep to 
their domain for several years and escape 
all the dangers of the wood and field, 
but at last, during a breeding season, 
Sharpclaw is shot whilst sitting on her 
nest by a keeper who had hidden in the 
bushes near. Quicksight is without a 
mate, but the next year he finds one, 
and brings her to fill Sharpclaw’s place, 
until at last he himself is caught by some 
bird-catchers in a large net, as he 
swooped upon a little bird which was 
pegged to the ground. They kill him 
with a stick, and poor Quicksight’s life 
is ended. 
Parson Finches. 
The Parson Finch hails from Australia, and is a most desirable and satisfactory pet. It 
can often be induced to breed in this country. 
