F. during the daytime. Slight
frosts were registered at night in the district, and the young bracken,
which covered the Common in places, had the appearance of having been
scorched and eventually withered away. At the coldest period of this
cold spell the young were hatched in two of the nests--in the first one
on the 10th June, and in the second a day or so later; and on the
morning of the 10th June, having found a suitable position near the
first nest, I began to watch the movements of the parents, with the
intention of keeping some record of their behaviour each day so long as
the young needed attention. An hour passed without their appearing, and
on examining the young I found that they were cold, feeble, and
unresponsive, but the female presently arrived and went to the nest.
Later in the day the young were lively and responded freely when the
nest was approached, but nevertheless I was impressed with the length of
time during which the parents were absent; for, judging by the
experience of previous experiment, there seemed to be every likelihood
of their losing their offspring in such abnormally cold weather, unless
they brooded them more persistently. On the 11th June at 5.50 A.M.
neither parent was to be seen and the young could scarcely be made to
respond; but shortly afterwards both male and female appeared, and,
after remaining a few minutes, again disappeared without even
approaching the nest. At 6.45 A.M. no attempt had been made to brood and
the young were then so feeble that they were scarcely able to open their
mouths, and at 6 P.M. one was still alive but the remaining three were
dead. Yet the parents returned and the female went to the nest; and,
from a distance of a few feet, I watched her brooding the living and the
dead. At 5.45 A.M. the following day the remaining young bird had
succumbed, the temperature then being 49 deg. F.

At the second nest, I was unable to watch the behaviour of the parents
so closely. On the 15th June the nest contained three young from three
to four days old, and during the morning of that and the succeeding day
nothing unusual occurred, with the exception that the period of exposure
seemed, as in the former case, to be too long. On the 17th June at 3.10
A.M. the young had collapsed and were stiff, but the parents were in
their territory and anxious apparently to attend to their brood. At 9.15
A.M. only two of the young were left in the nest, and though I searched
amongst