Page:Territory in Bird Life by Henry Eliot Howard (London, John Murray edition).djvu/241

happened to be watching the Yellow Buntings on Hartlebury Common—200 acres of Upper Soft Red Sandstone, profusely overgrown with cross-leaved heath (Erica tetralix), ling (Calluna vulgaris), and furze (Ulex)—in one corner of which eight males had established adjoining territories covering some fifteen acres of ground. The males obtained mates towards the end of March or at the beginning of April; nests were built in the middle of May, and the successful pairs hatched out their young in June. On the 10th June the weather became exceptionally cold, and during the next ten days the temperature fell at times to 40 °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