SPARROW-HAWK. 89 



unci destructive, a dangerous enemy to small quadrupeds and 

 young birds, upon which it subsists, and is so daring during 

 the season in which its own nestlings require to be provided 

 with food, as frequently to venture among the out-buildings 

 of the farmhouse, where it has been observed to rapidly 

 skim over the poultry-yard, snatch up a chick, and get off 

 with it in an instant. The female Sparrow-Hawk is, indeed, 

 the only bird-of-prey which the game-preserver nowadays 

 need fear. 



In reference to the capabilities of this species for hawking, 

 Sebright says that he once took a Partridge with a Sparrow- 

 Hawk of his own breaking, ten days after it had been taken 

 wild from a wood. In England it is commonly used for 

 taking Land-Rails, Partridges, Blackbirds, Thrushes and 

 other small birds, but in India it is trained to quarry of 

 much swifter flight, such as the Courser and Sand-Grouse. 



The Sparrow-Hawk generally builds its own nest, but 

 often takes possession of that of some other bird, frequently 

 a Crow's, in which the hen lays four or five eggs, which are 

 usually of great beauty, being boldly blotched with deep 

 brownish-crimson on a white or pale bluish-white ground, 

 the markings being often massed together and leaving a 

 large part of the shell uncoloured, though examples are not 

 rare which are more uniformly spotted. Occasionally the 

 colouring is collected at one of the ends, and sometimes in 

 the form of a zone, while again it is found diffused over the 

 whole surface. The eggs measure from 1-72 to 1*42 by 

 1'36 to 1'17 in. The young are covered with a delicate and 

 pure white down, and are abundantly supplied with food. 

 Selby mentions having found in a nest containing five young 

 Sparrow-Hawks, a Lapwing, two Blackbirds, a Thrush and 

 two Green Linnets, recently killed, and partly divested of 

 their feathers. 



The Sparrow-Hawk is common throughout the whole of 

 Great Britain, and the enclosed and wooded parts of Ireland. 

 It also inhabits every country of the European continent, 

 from the most northern province of Norway southward. It 

 extends across Asia to Japan, and in China occurs at least 



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