52 



JOURN'AL OF THE WILD BIRD INVESTIGATION SOCIETY. 



emptied his gun at it. He thought it was a 

 voung Sparrow Hawk. " If he's any use to 

 you, its yours; if not, I'll give it to the cat." 

 I requested him to give me the first chance. 

 At sight 1 identified it as a female Merlin 

 (Falco cu'xalon, Tunstall), in beautiful con- 

 dition, ll is now in ni}' collection, well 

 mounted and cased. A nice male bird taken 

 near Hereford was also kindly given to me 

 by Mr. Pilley. 



1 was pleased to hear the cry of the Merlin 

 in Brinsop Wood the end of last July. I am 

 well acquainted with ils note, having kept 

 Merlins on two occasions. The first came 

 from a nest on the Yorkshire Moors. The 

 second found itself entangled in the net of a 

 Birmingham bird catcher. The young speci- 

 men grew up very tame, but the adult one 

 was wild to the end of ihe chapter. It is 

 believed to nest annually on a certain wooded 

 hill a few miles from Ross. Others may 

 cross the district on their internal migration 

 from the northern to southern counties. 



Two other hawks only remain to be men- 

 tioned. The S]Darrow Hawk is a most rapa- 



cious fellt 



with all the courage of a 



Goshawk. It has man\' enemies, and is, 1 

 fear, a decreasing species. It is vain to plead 

 for its life witli gamekeepers or those who 

 emplov diem. As an instance of the disparity 

 of the sexes, ! may mention that of a pair 

 given to me (shot off their nest), the male 

 weiglied but five ounces, while the female 

 scaled ten ! \or was the difference due to 

 recently taken food, for both iheir stomachs 

 were empl\'. 



SN'Ianv readers, 1 am sure, could cite 

 instances of the boldness of the Sparrow 

 Hawk. Here are a few that have come within 

 mv " ken." In a \inery near to me, a 

 Sparrow Hawk dashed through the glass side 

 in pursuit of a sparrow. A second plunged 

 through the roof of a conservatorv, some 

 canaries in cages being the attraction. It was 

 picked up in a dazed condition. I was once 



at a country funeral. The hedges were about 

 on a level with the coffin. A Sparrow Hawk 

 flew across, chasing a small bird, only aiaout 

 a foot above the " casket." Two vears ago 

 one swooped down on a cage containing a 

 Goldfinch. This cage was hung between the 

 front door and a window in the main street 

 of our tow II ! Certainly it was on a Sunday 

 initl-day, when few people were about. The 

 owner, hearing a noise, rushed out and seized 

 the hawk before it could extricate itself. The 

 hawk seized him, drawing blood with its 

 tak)ns. I was sent for to identifv it, and found 

 it in a thrush cage, on the perch of repentance 

 we will hope. Learning they proposed screw- 

 ing its neck, I purchased it, and so saved its 

 life. It was the smallest made Sparrow Hawk 

 I think I have ever seen. It could not brook 

 captivits', and, though placed in a roomy 

 aviarv, it died on the third day. 



Last autumn m\' esteemed neighbour, Col. 

 I-Aan Thomas, of Over Ross House, kindly 

 gave me a fine female Sparrow Hawk, which 

 had been picked up dead, but warm, outside 

 his dining room window. Xo birds were 

 inside the room. The presumption is the 

 hawk was in pursuit of a small bird, when it 

 cracked its skull against the window pane. 



To oblige a voung friend at college, 1 

 took charge of a pair of \'oung Sparrow 

 Hawks (taken from the nest). When the 

 vacation arrived, six weeks later, they were 

 transferred to him. Onl\- twd weeks elapsed 

 before thc\- " fell out," the female killed her 

 brother, and succumbed to her own wounds 

 a few da\ s later. 



The heaiiliful and useful Kestrel (Falco 

 lliiniinciiliis, Linn.) concludes the county list 

 ol tUurnal birds of prey. This species is both 

 deserving of our admiration and protection. 

 I once kept one for four years. Notwith- 

 standing being captured as an adult, it 

 became sufticiently tame to perch on my fin- 

 ger, or to fly and take a mouse off the palm 

 of m\ hand. The \ear before it died it laid 



