VOL. X.J HABITS OF SPARROW-HAWK. 57 



At the first nest we watched in 1915 the food at first 

 was nearly always young Starhngs. The fohage of the 

 oaks had, in some trees, been entirely removed by the 

 caterpillars of Tortrix viridarm. Rooks, Starlings (in 

 thousands), Jays, Magpies, tits and crowds of warblers 

 made incessant war on them. The Starlings came in 

 for a bad time from the hawks as they occasionally 

 alighted in the nest tree, which was then as bare as 

 any tree in the wood. This the hawks could not stand, 

 and they soon made the wood too hot for the Starlings, 

 and they left it almost to a bird. After this the cock 

 brought a very mixed diet for some days — Blackbirds, 

 tits, warblers, finches of various kinds and an occasional 

 Lark. At the end, Sparrows were brought most frequently, 

 as two great wheat-stacks near the wood had been 

 threshed and a large flock of Sparrows collected on the 

 spot daily ; also the spot was nearly upwind from the 

 nest. In all the time we only saw one game-bird brought 

 — a French Partridge a fe^^' days old on July 4th. The 

 keeper missed some young chickens one afternoon, and 

 saw the cock fly by his house to the wood twice. I was 

 in the hut the whole of that afternoon, and able to 

 certify that no chickens were brought. I was also able 

 to tell him what the cock had brought each time he saw 

 it pass. The next day he killed an enormous rat and a 

 poaching cat near his pens and felt more comfortable. 



We unfortunately made the hen very suspicious at 

 the first nest, and she refused to come and break up the 

 carcasses for the young when they were twenty-three days 

 old and upwards. The cock therefore had to bring the 

 food to the nest, and he was very nervous about it. He 

 had a long argument with the hen before each visit and 

 the young recognised when it was settled that he should 

 come, and expected him. They began to give the " food 

 squeal " long before he reached the nest tree. On these 

 occasions he came very noiselessly. There was no note 

 once it was settled that he was to come and no swish of 

 wings as he passed the hut ; he simply came in ghostly 



