HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



269 



the disappearance of the more striking of our 

 feathered friends, we must visit their haunts ; a man 

 who goes to look for the eyrie of a golden eagle in a 

 flat dreary saltmarsh, would be as inconsistent as he 

 who eagerly inquires for the beautiful bearded tit 

 among the precipitous ranges of the Grampians. 



The sparrowhawk may be said to be generally 

 distributed over the United Kingdom. In Ireland 

 Mr. Thompson says it is " common throughout 

 the enclosed and wooded parts." In Scotland it is 

 no less abundant, breeding in the adjoining islands, 

 on the rocks which encircle them. This bird annually 

 rears its brood on the cliffs of the Isle of May (Firth 

 of Forth), or did so as recently as 1876. According to 

 different writers, it is found generally dispersed over 

 the whole of the continent of Europe. In Norway, 

 Sweden, and Denmark (vide " Old Bushman ") it is 

 commonly seen. He procured both eggs and birds of 

 this species, as far north as Quickiock, in Lapland. 

 According to the same writer, it is known by the 

 name of " sparl hok " in Sweden. It also extends its 

 range to Asia, as far east as Japan, from whence 

 specimens of this bird are said to have been received. 

 In Africa also has it been observed, in the countries 

 bordering the blue Mediterranean on the north, and 

 separated from the scorching, arid wastes of the 

 Sahara by the Atlas mountains and their continua- 

 tions. From the foregoing, it may be inferred that 

 the sparrowhawk has a very wide and extensive area 

 of distribution. 



These birds commence to build their nests during 

 the month of April, at which time they may be seen 

 soaring high in the heaven over the site they have 

 chosen. It may be that a deserted nest of some 

 magpie (C. pica), or other of the Corvidse is chosen. 

 If necessity demands it is repaired. The nest is 

 situate on some branch, midway up the tree, and is 

 formed by twigs and small parts of pine and larch, 

 often with the unopened buds still green and fresh, as 

 though recently broken off. It has a slight hollow in 

 the centre, lined perhaps with a few dead leaves, or 

 there may be no lining. Sometimes it is very large 

 and cumbrous ; while, on the contrary, others are so 

 small, and the twigs so scanty, that the blue sky 

 may be discerned through them, leading one to 

 suppose, that they at times take possession of the 

 nests of wood pigeons. If the wood be extensive, 

 there would probably be more than one pair of these 

 birds in it. I have known three different nests to be 

 within a distance of fifty yards. If not molested, 

 they will frequent the same neighbourhood year after 

 year. When it nidificates on the shore cliffs, it takes 

 possession of the nest of some Kittiwake or other 

 gull, and the nest will then consist of seaweeds and 

 such like material. The vicinity of this bird's haunt 

 is apparent, the remains of birds, scattered feathers 

 and pellets being as a rule found in profusion, evident 

 tokens of its sanguinary meals. 



The eggs are four or five in number, of a round 



form, about the size of a large plum. They have a 

 bluish-white ground, spotted here and there with 

 reddish-brown spots ; in some very faint and in- 

 distinct, but in others the markings stand out clear, 

 and in well-defined relief. In some the spots become 

 large blotches of a rich reddish-brown, which gives 

 the egg an extremely fine appearance. There is also 

 a rare variety, which has a large blotch on either 

 end, covering it like a cap, and a still rarer variety is 

 that with a band or zone of richly coloured blotches 

 encircling the egg. I have one in my collection 

 which was taken out of Lancashire, in which the 

 ground colour cannot be perceived, the egg being 

 clouded with a light chestnut colour. This is the 

 nearest approach to a kestrel's egg which I have ever 

 seen. When recently taken out of the nest, the 

 markings of this bird's egg may be washed off when 

 water is applied. When the nest is robbed of its 

 eggs, it is not invariably forsaken. I myself took two 

 eggs out of a nest, and on visiting it during the 

 succeeding week, found three other eggs. A more 

 remarkable occurrence of the nature, I mentioned in 

 this periodical some time previous, when no less than 

 five different sets were taken from one nest. 



When the eggs have been hatched, both birds 

 appear to increase in their savageness of disposition, 

 and show their emotions by flying round when the 

 intruder is sacking their home, uttering piercing 

 cries, and at times will not hesitate in attacking the 

 aggressor. It is at this period when so much 

 nutriment is required. Both birds are actively 

 employed during the day in reconnoitring the con- 

 tiguous country to supply their voracious family. 

 Many are the cries loudly uttered, proceeding from 

 the depths of the nest, as either of the parent birds 

 are descried sailing towards its hungry progeny with 

 a delicious morsel, the result of its forage. At this 

 period, the time of incubation, they become extremely 

 daring, and many are the incursions they make into 

 forbidden territories. In their eagerness to feed their 

 young, by their instinctive parental emotions, which 

 are strong within them, by their impulsion to provide 

 their family with food, they throw off for a time their 

 habitual retirement, and bring themselves into closer 

 intercourse with the abodes of men. Where vigilance 

 is lax, the loss of a young duckling, or the absence of 

 a chicken, informs the careless housewife that the 

 " sparl hok " has paid her a visit. 



The unceasing exertions made by these birds to 

 supply their young with an adequate sufficiency of 

 food, testifies that, despite the naturally savage 

 tendency of their temperament, they lack not in their 

 innate, instinctive affection for their young. 



Like other predatory birds, the " pigeonhawk " 

 has the power of ejecting, in pellets, indigestible 

 portions of its meals. 



So familiar is this bird, that a brief description will 

 suffice. The female is between fourteen and fifteen 

 inches in length, while the male is but twelve. The 



