ill sometimes take the trouble to remove the eggs or the nest
altogether, when the latter has been discovered, in order to avoid
further risks of danger. The American Sparrow Hawk has been observed
to do this, and the following incident is quoted by Bendire, from
MacFarlane's _Manuscript Notes on Birds Nesting in British America_,
concerning the Pigeon Hawk (_Falco columbarius_):--"On May 25, 1864, a
trusty Indian in my employ found a nest placed in a thick branch of a
pine tree at a height of about six feet from the ground. It was rather
loosely constructed of a few dry sticks and a small quantity of coarse
hay; it then contained two eggs; both parents were seen, fired at, and
missed. On the 31st he revisited the nest, which still held but two
eggs, and again missed the birds. Several days later he made another
visit thereto, and, to his surprise, the eggs and parents had
disappeared. His first impression was that some other person had taken
them; but after looking carefully around he perceived both birds at a
short distance, and this led him to institute a search which soon
resulted in finding that the eggs must have been removed by the parent
birds to the face of a muddy bank at least forty yards distant from
the original nest. A few decayed leaves had been placed under them,
but nothing else in the way of lining. A third egg had been added in
the interim. There can hardly be any doubt of the truth of the
foregoing facts."[110]

[110] Bendire, _Life Histories of North American Birds_,
1892, p. 301.

_Separation of females while brooding._--The Hornbill of Malacca[111]
assures the protection of its nest and of the female while she is
brooding in a singular manner. She lays in the hollow of a tree; as
soon as she begins to sit on her eggs, the male closes the opening
with diluted clay, only leaving a hole through which the captive can
pass her beak to receive the fruits which he brings her in abundance.
If the lady is thus cloistered as closely as in the most jealous
harem, her lord and master at least expends on her the most attentive
cares.

[111] Bernstein, "Ueber Nester und Eier einiger Javaschen
Voegel," _Cabani's Journ. f. Ornith._, 1859.

What can be the object of this strange custom? It has been asserted
that during incubation the female loses her feathers and becomes
unable to fly. The male would thus only wall her up as a precaution
for fear of seeing her fall from the nest; because i