84 CATALOGUE OF BIRDS. 



It is pretty generally distributed over the British 

 Islands ; its favourite localities being plantations 

 and wooded districts generally. No doubt its 

 numbers are immensely reduced to what they might 

 be, simply from the attention the bird receives from 

 most game-keepers who do something for their 

 wages. 



Mr. Hudson thinks this Hawk has become rare 

 owing to this '* persecution " — as he terms it — by 

 keepers. 



In my sporting expeditions, with the exception of 

 those in the Hebrides, I have met with it pretty 

 constantly, especially in the woodlands of Wales, 

 where I should imagine it was almost plentiful. 



Howard Saunders says : "In autumn the Sparrow 

 Hawk is frequently observed at our lightships and 

 stations on the east coast, and immense numbers 

 sometimes cross Heligoland on their way from 

 higher latitudes ; the young passing first and the 

 adults following." With regard to its nesting 

 habits, the same author says : " Like the Gos 

 Hawk, this species usually builds its own nest 

 composed of sticks with a slight lining of twigs, and 

 invariably places it in a tree, and often on the 

 branches close to the bole or at the top. Some- 

 times, however, it adapts and adds to the deserted 

 abode of a Crow, Wood-pigeon, or other bird. Its 

 food "consists principally of small birds, which it 

 snaps up in an instant as it glides with rapid though 

 stealthy flight along hedges or the skirts of woods. 

 Like all other short-winged species, it feeds on the 



