WILD LIFE ONlTHE WINJG 
mother-feathers to cover 
them, to maturer fledg- 
ling dignity. Their food 
was frog frog many 
times an hour through- 
out the day. Every 
time that the broad sha- 
dow swooped between 
the nest and the sun 
the chorus began, low- 
toned at first, then in- 
creasing to a storm of 
coughing and yelping, 
as the gullet-full was 
distributed among the 
three gaping mouths. 
At first the fledglings' 
view of the world was 
limited to the sky over- 
head ; later they craned 
their necks over the 
and looked out over a purple 
undulating expanse of tree-tops to the bog 
under Slieve Corrig, whence the frogs came. 
From the other side one could see Dwerning, 
where the white tree trunks lay piled pitifully 
upon one another, and watch another and 
another totter and fall with its load of purple 
buds. By the time that the March gales 
210 
nest 
