FALCON I D^. 



333 



THE SPARROW-HAWK. 



AcciPiTER Nisus (Linnffius). 



The Sparrow-Hawk is generally distributed in Great Britain and 

 also in Ireland, wherever there are woodlands suited to its tastes. 

 It is emphatically an arboreal species, and is, naturally, of rare 

 occurrence in the Orkneys, Shetlands, and Outer Hebrides, where 

 the long-winged Kestrel often bears the name — as elsewhere it 

 suffers for the delinquencies — of this dashing short-winged species. 



In autumn the Sparrow-Hawk is frequently observed at our light- 

 ships and stations on the east coast ; and large numbers sometimes 

 cross Heligoland on their way from higher latitudes — the young 

 passing first, and the adults following. The breeding-range extends 

 northward to the limits of forest-growth, and southward to the 

 Mediterranean ; comparatively few birds, however, remain to nest in 

 Spain or Italy, where this species is chiefly noticed on passage, when 

 following the flocks of small birds on which it preys. It occurs in 

 Madeira, the Canaries, North Africa, and Egypt as far up the Nile 

 as Assouan, and migrates to Kordofan. In Asia it is found across 

 Siberia to Kamchatka and Japan, and breeds, sparingly, down to 

 Kashmir and the Himalayas, while in winter its range extends to 

 the latitude of Canton. There are many other members of this 

 genus, possessing a well-defined geographical range ; but the 



