170 WILD LIFE IN CHINA. 



record the result of an examination of the immediate 

 surroundings of a sparrow-hawk's nest giving the following 

 astounding statistics: — 15 young pheasants, 4 young part- 

 ridges, 5 chickens, 2 larks, 2 pipits, and a bullfinch! As there 

 are sometimes as many as five young ones in a brood, all 

 characteristically voracious, there is need for a well-filled 

 larder, and it is probable that for digestion's sake it is 

 desirable that food for the young birds should "hang" for 

 ^ few days. 



As a trained bird, the sparrow-hawk is well known to the 

 Chinese, who use it for the capture of the smaller birds. But 

 its temper is excitable to an extraordinary extent, and 

 though capable, under kind treatment long continued, of 

 much gentleness and affection, is slow to learn and quick to 

 forget the little artificial lessons of the professional falconer. 

 Better for this purpose is Accipiter virgafus, a sort of lesser 

 sparrow-hawk, which migrates in large numbers from the 

 Malay peninsula, a favourite wintering place, to North China 

 and Siberia. Admirers of this bird insist on its general 

 superiority to its larger cousin. It is even more dashing, 

 especially when trained, and, if possible, still more bold. It 

 is much used in the north for flying at small birds. Unlike 

 the sparrow-hawk, which nests in a wood, not infrequently 

 depriving a crow or a magpie of its laboriously constructed 

 home, the smaller bird loves the hills for its place of 

 nidification, and there brings up its young. The goshawk, 

 which really belongs more nearly to this genus, has already 

 been mentioned amongst the falcons. 



Another bird of an allied species, familiar to all 

 sportsmen throughout this part of China, is the hen 

 harrier. Circus Cyaneiis. Considerably larger and heavier 

 than the sparrow hawk, being as much as 18 inches in length 

 sometimes, and weighing 12 or 13 ounces, the harrier has other 

 characteristics marking it ofl^ widely from its lighter, bolder, 

 and more dashing cousin. He is a bird of the air: the harrier 

 of the ground. Heconfines himself almost entirely to birds for 

 food, the harrier knows few if any limits and will kill a frog 

 or a snake, a mouse or a young rabbit as readily as he will 

 a snipe or a quail. But always on the ground. Even if he 

 follows his prey through the air, as I have often seen him 

 do, it is to drive it to earth. His flight has to be fairly 

 swift to allow of this being done, and there is much grace in 

 his gliding motion, though nothing comparable with the 

 dash of a sparrow-hawk, or the rush of a hobby. It is a very 

 interesting sight to watch a hen harrier quartering the 

 ground in search of food. It works for all the world like an 

 aerial pointer or spaniel, zigzagging in the most scientific 

 manner until something is espied on the ground only a yard 



