212 THE NESTS AND EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



worthy. That the bird at some remote epoch inhabited 

 the British Islands there can be Httle doubt ; but this 

 was long previous to any ornithological records, and 

 consequently we must decline to admit the species into 

 the present work. As the Goshawk is a bird of very 

 limited migrations, the chance of our islands becoming 



repeopled with this species is excessively small, for 

 we almost invariably find that wheny^birds become 5f>c^ 



extinct as breeding species with us, they rarel}' if ever 

 establish themselves again unless introduced by artificial 

 means. 



Family FALCONID.E. Genus Accipiter. 



Sub-family ACCIPJTIilNyE. 



SPARROW-HAWK. 



Accipiter nisus {Linnccus). 

 Single Brooded. Laying season, latter end of April and in May. 



British breeding area : The Sparrow-Hawk, next 

 to the Kestrel, is the most widely distributed of the 

 British birds of prey, and breeds throughout the wooded 

 portions ef our islands. In the comparatively bare and 

 treeless districts of the Hebrides and the Orkneys and 

 Shetlands it is rare, absent one might say, as a regular 

 breeding species. 



Breeding habits : The Sparrow-Hawk is practically 

 a resident in our islands, although there is a perceptible 

 movement from the wilder and most northerly districts 

 during winter. The haunts of this pretty Hawk are 

 exclusively confined to well-timbered districts, either 

 the woods and coppices of the lowlands, or the spruce 



