204 Sparrow-Hawk 



carry on tlie wing, and considering tliat they only weigh ten ounces 

 themselves, it is by no means a bad performance. 



On November 15th, 1895, I shot an immature female Sparrow- 

 Hawk (Table II., 20), and, on dissection, found the crop to be 

 extremely distended with the flesh and feathers of an adult cock 

 Pheasant. It is impossible to suppose that the Hawk could kill, 

 or would even try to kill, a perfectly sound cock Pheasant. As a 

 matter of fact, I shot this bird on the second day's cover-shooting 

 at Scots Hall, and I can onty suppose that the Sparrow-Hawk, 

 a bird of the second year, found a wounded Pheasant of the day 

 before, attacked and killed it. It remains rather a puzzling case, 

 whatever supposition one puts forward. It is altogether against the 

 ordinaty habit of this dashing Hawk to attack a sickly or wounded 

 bird. I do not believe they would ever look at a dead bird. Their 

 custom is to pursue a prey which is strong and active ; no bird, 

 unless it be the Peregrine, appears to enjoy the pleasure of the chase 

 more than the Sparrow-Hawk. He is far too good a sportsman to 

 follow the sick, wounded or infirm, as a Buzzard will readily do : 

 and I am still wondering how that Hawk and the cock Pheasant 

 came to get so intimately mixed up. 



The male Sparrow-Hawk, as we have seen, can only take game- 

 birds when thev are small. The time during which he can do any 

 damage is limited, as with the Kestrel, to some eight weeks from 

 mid-May to mid-July. The female may, if she chooses, prey on 

 game-birds (Partridges) all the year round. Yet, in my twenty- 

 one skins, there are only three instances, as just mentioned, in which 

 dissection proved that she had taken game. Two of these were 

 outside the proper breeding-season altogether, and the third 

 concerned a half-grown Pheasant taken in the woods, and not on 

 the rearing-field. 



Of the sixteen male skins, only one bird (No. 6) May 26th, was 

 found with game in his stomach. This was a Partridge-chick, and 

 was, I think, most likely obtained well away from the rearing-iield. 



I doubt whether the rearing-field presents any great attraction 

 to the Sparrow-Hawk, male or female. The mice which brought the 

 Kestrel to the spot in the first instance, he doesn't care for ; and 

 the small, fluff}' chicks don't at all comply with his idea of a sporting 

 meal. 



If you will refer to Table II, giving the contents of the crop 

 and stomach of the Sparrow-Hawk, and compare it with Table I 

 of the Kestrel, you cannot fail to be struck by the great difference 

 in their choice of food. I would, further, again emphasize the fact 

 that both series were procured under exactly the same conditions, 

 from the same highly-preserved grounds and over the same period 

 of time. The two tables are, therefore, pecuHarly suitable for 

 comparison. With the Kestrel, rodents head the list, then passerine 

 birds, some of these hardly fully-fledged, while game-chicks and 

 beetles tie for the third place. 



