272 ADVENTURES AMONG BIRDS 



falcons — perhaps, as some naturalists think, the most 

 perfect of the entire feathered race — maintains a pre- 

 carious existence on the boldest sea-cliffs, and as to the 

 hobby, it is now nearly extinct. The courageous little 

 merlin does not range in southern England, and is very 

 rare even in its northernmost counties. The kestrel is 

 with us still, and it is beautiful to see him suspended 

 motionless in mid-air with swiftly vibrating wings like 

 a gigantic hover-fly ; but he is nothing more than a mouser 

 and an insect-eater, a falcon that has lost the noble 

 courage of his tribe. The splendid powerful goshawk, 

 a veritable king among hawks, has long been extinct; 

 only his little cousin, the sparrow-hawk, lives on in ever- 

 diminishing numbers. But although small and, as his 

 name implies, a preyer chiefly on little birds, he has the 

 qualities of his noble relation. In wooded places I am 

 always on the look-out for him in hopes of witnessing 

 one of his dashing raids on the feathered population. 

 As a rule there is little to see, for the sparrow-hawk 

 usually takes his quarry by surprise, rushing along the 

 hedgerow, or masked by trees, then bounding like a 

 small hunting leopard of the air on his victim and, if 

 the stroke has been missed, speeding on his way. Even 

 if I do not see this much — if I just catch a glimpse of 

 the blue figure speeding by, seen for a moment, then 

 vanishing among the trees — it is a pleasure to me, a 

 satisfaction to know that he still exists, this little living 

 link with the better vanished past, and my day has not 

 been wasted. 



Here, on the open downs where the small birds when 



