37(3 



FALCON AND EAGLE GROUP 



As the sparrow-hawk is essentially a denizen of well-wooded 

 districts its geographical distribution is necessarily restricted to the 

 northward by the limitations of the forest-zone, and therefore does not 

 extend much beyond latitude 69°, that is to say, some little distance 

 within the Arctic Circle. Moreover, it is a cold-loving species, and is, 

 therefore, more numerous in the northern than in the southern portions 

 of its breeding- range, although this extends from northern Scandinavia 



southwards to Spain, in- 

 ^♦^y:/ :■ . ' -' ' • ly^j^.^'^;^^ elusive of Gibraltar, and 



Greece ; but it may be 

 that in these southern 

 latitudes the nesting al- 

 ways (as it certainly does 

 at times) takes place only 

 at considerable altitudes. 

 In the opposite direction 

 the breeding - range ex- 

 tends from Scandinavia 

 across northern and 

 Central Asia, inclusive of 

 the Himalaya (which is 

 the home of a large and 

 dark-coloured race), to 

 Korea and Japan. North 

 European birds visit 

 southern Europe in win- 

 ter, while some, accom- 

 panied perhaps by their 

 southern relatives, cross 

 the Mediterranean into 

 Africa ; and a similar 

 southern migration takes place in Asia, where sparrow-hawks spread 

 themselves in winter over India and over China as far south as Canton. 

 With the exception of the northern isles of Scotland, where it is com- 

 paratively scarce, the sparrow-hawk is to be met with in wooded dis- 

 tricts throughout the British Islands, although, owing to the persecution 

 to which it is subjected at the hands of gamekeepers, in far smaller 

 numbers than formerly. 



Not that this persecution is by any means unjustifiable, for in the 

 spring this hawk is extremely destructive to young pheasants and 

 partridges, as it is to small birds in general. Indeed, it is capable of 



MOUNTCD IN THE ROWLAND WARD STUDIOS 



SPAKKOW-HAWK (FKMALK). 



