246 ACCIPITER NISUS. 



feathers are edged with pale brownish-red. They vary- 

 in length from fourteen to seventeen inches. When of 

 the latter size, and compared with a male peregi'ine 

 falcon of the same length, the difference between the 

 two birds in form amounts to a complete contrast. The 

 colours fade a little, and become more or less ragged 

 at the edges, towards the period at which the feathers 

 are renewed, but the changes are not very remarkable. 



Habits. — In spirit and activity, the Sparrow Hawk 

 is not surpassed by any of our native birds, and it may 

 be contrasted with the eagles and buzzards, which pos- 

 sess these qualities in a very inferior degree. The 

 British birds of prey that most resemble it in these 

 qualities are the hobby, the merlin, and the kestrel. 

 When searching for food, it moves along gently and 

 silently, with easy flappings, alternating with short sail- 

 ings or glidings, its head retracted, its tail extended and 

 slightly spread. It often stops, hovers over some spot 

 in a field, supporting itself in the air by a quick but gen- 

 tle motion of the wings, then moves onward a hundred 

 yards or so, and again stops to survey the subjacent 

 objects, sometimes remaining for a considerable time al- 

 most motionless. On some occasions it will perch on 

 a stump, tree, or wall, patiently explore the neighbour- 

 hood for a while, until, finding its search vain, it will 

 fiy off, or, observing a bird, glide rapidly towards it, 

 and secure it in an instant. The rapidity with which 

 it darts upon its prey is scarcely credible. In the 

 spring of 1833, while looking at some pipits and a wag- 

 tail, busily feeding in a field on the Braid Hills, on 

 which three ploughs were going, I observ^ed a small 



