THE BIRDS OF BRECONSHIRE. 19 
ever, that it kills what it can. A friend 
of mine had a nice brood of Pheasants, 
which he put under a hen, and for 
greater security he put them directly 
in front of his window; day by day they 
improved in size, but decreased in 
numbers, until they were nearly all gone, 
in spite of careful watching; one day, 
however, like a flash of light a hawk 
darted round the corner and took one of 
them; a lucky shot laid him low, and 
on picking him up the culprit was found 
to be a Kestrel. He had taken them all. 
SPARROWHAWK, Accipiter nisus. 
Very common. Toonce: (found...) a 
Sparrowhawk in a singular situation; 
going to my garden in Brecon one night 
in the dead of winter, to catch some 
game bantams that roosted in a thick 
holly tree, I turned a lantern on them 
suddenly, and there saw a hen Sparrow- 
hawk roosting close by the bantams! I 
carefully put my hand over her back, 
but directly I touched her she dashed 
off into the darkness and I saw her no 
more; what she was doing there I can- 
not make out, but I imagine that the 
night being bitterly cold she must have 
