356 ACCIPITER NISUS. 



ficient courage to pursue it ? Is it certain that a hawk is un- 

 able to single out a bird from a flock ; or, is there more reason 

 to think that a troop of swallows, which have no weapons that 

 could inflict the least injury on a hawk, could in the smallest 

 degree aftect it with fear? It is observable in our own species, 

 that cowards, the moment the danger is over, assume so much 

 more courage than is natural to them, that in the midst of the 

 excitement they will even make a venture which in ordinary 

 circumstances they would not have courage to do. The small 

 birds that w^e speak of are all cowards, in the presence of hawks 

 at least, and when one of the latter comes unawares among 

 them and carries off" one, or passes over without pursuing them, 

 they soon recover from their fright, and being elated beyond 

 their ordinary state, in a degree corresponding to their former 

 depression, they muster spirit enough to go on for some time 

 w^ith a mock pursuit." It is this sudden revulsion when the 

 danger is over, that renders clamorous in the trees birds which 

 were perfectly silent wdien the hawk was gliding past them. 



With the view of presenting as complete an account of this 

 bird as possible, I shall now introduce a notice respecting it 

 from the pen of my friend Mr Hepburn. 



" The Sparrow Hawk is common in all the cultivated parts 

 of East Lothian. When searching a field it sometimes hangs 

 in the liquid void precisely like the kestrel. In the dim twilight 

 I often see it coursing about its favourite hunting-grounds, on 

 the lookout for some bird that may have incautiously roosted 

 within reach of its formidable grasp. For many years an indi- 

 vidual of this species has almost daily visited our stack-yard 

 during the winter season, generally betwixt noon and three 

 o'clock. As he glides in lowly flight over the fields to his lar- 

 der, as the stack-yard may be termed, his detested presence is 

 first announced by the ' twink'' of some Chaffinch perched on 

 a tall tree. Its companions repeat the alarm cry, and in com- 

 pany wnth Buntings and Linnets fly up to the trees, a few 

 perching on the bushes. The Sparrows feeding near the barn- 

 door seek the middle of the neighbouring hedge, or betake 

 themselves in a compact flock to the shelter of the evergreens 

 in the garden, where they remain perfectly quiet till the danger 



