. Baby birds at home . t is bold enough to sit quitestill on a telegraph wire, whilst an expressrattles past it at full speed. The Windhover does not make a sometimes uses the old home of amagpie or carrion crow, and at others laysher eggs in a hole in a tree, old ruin, oron a ledge, in an overhanging cliff. From four to seven eggs are laid. Theseare of a creamy-white colour, thickly blotchedand clouded with reddish brown. Baby Kestrels are covered with a plenti-ful supply of down, and fed by both parentbirds. The writer watched a family of thesechicks on one occasion for the whole of


. Baby birds at home . t is bold enough to sit quitestill on a telegraph wire, whilst an expressrattles past it at full speed. The Windhover does not make a sometimes uses the old home of amagpie or carrion crow, and at others laysher eggs in a hole in a tree, old ruin, oron a ledge, in an overhanging cliff. From four to seven eggs are laid. Theseare of a creamy-white colour, thickly blotchedand clouded with reddish brown. Baby Kestrels are covered with a plenti-ful supply of down, and fed by both parentbirds. The writer watched a family of thesechicks on one occasion for the whole of asummers day, and the food brought to theeyrie consisted entirely of voles and beetles. Upon fledging, young Windhovers scatterand sit about amongst the trees in differentparts of a wood. If you remain quite stillfor half an hour or so, and are well hidden,you will hear them calling kek, kek, kek,from different quarters. They are hungryand are calling out in order that one orother of their parents may bring them KITTIWAKES. The Kittiwake THE Kittiwake is the smallest gull foundbreeding in the British Islands, and thisfact, coupled with the dusky colour of its legsand feet, will readily help to distinguish itfrom any other sea-bird found round our coast. It always breeds on ledges and in crevicesof sea cliffs, and is never found nesting on theground like the common gull. In St. Kilda, the Shetlands, and on manycliffs round the coast of Ireland, it breeds incountless thousands, and always tells thenature lover its name when he or she comesnear its nesting-place, by crying out in a loudpenetrating voice two notes that sound likekitti-wake, kitti-wake, kitti-wake People whodo not know much about birds upon hearingit for the first time think it is someone tellingthem to get-away, get-away. Ever such a narrow ledge or small cornerwill, as may be seen from our illustration,serve the little Kittiwake for her nest, but 45 46 Baby Birds at Home the growing young ones cannot stir


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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectbirdsju, bookyear1912