156 THE SPARROW-HAWK 
New Holland. In America, we have already seen, it is abundant. 
It builds its nest of sticks on some rock or ruin, generally near the 
water, and lays two or three eggs. It has not been known to breed 
in Ireland. 
Sus-Famity ACCIPITRINZ 
THE SPARROW-HAWK 
ACCIPITER NISUS 
Upper plumage dark bluish grey, with a white spot on the nape of the neck j 
lower reddish white, transversely barred with deep brown; tail grey, 
barred with brownish black ; beak blue, lightest at the base ; cere, irides, 
and feet yellow; claws black. Female—upper parts brown passing into 
blackish grey; lower, greyish white barred with dark grey. Length, 
male twelve inches, female fifteen inches; breadth, male twenty-four 
inches, female twenty-eight inches. Eggs bluish white, blotched and 
spotted with deep rusty brown. 
SINcE the introduction of firearms, the Goshawk and Sparrow- 
Hawk have lost much of their reputation, every effort being now 
made to exterminate them, for carrying on, on their own account, 
the same practices which in bygone days they were enlisted to pur- 
sue on behalf of others. For hawking, it must be remembered, was 
not exclusively a pastime followed by the high and noble for amuse- 
ment’s sake, but was, in one of its branches, at least, a very con- 
venient method of supplying the table with game; and that, too, 
at a period when there were not the same appliances, in the shape 
of turnips, oil-cake, etc., for fattening cattle and producing beef 
and mutton in unlimited quantities, that there are now. The 
produce of the fish-ponds, woods, and fields was then a matter of 
some moment, and much depended on the training of the Hawks 
and diligence of the falconer whether the daily board should be 
plentifully or scantily furnished. In recent times, even, some 
idea of the intrinsic value of a good Hawk may be gathered from 
the fact that, in Lombardy, it was thought nothing extraordinary 
for a single Sparrow-Hawk to take for his master from seventy to 
eighty Quails in a single day. In the Danubian Provinces and in 
Hungary, the practice of hunting Quails with Sparrow-hawks is still 
in vogue ; but with us, the agile bird is left to pursue his prey on his 
own account. And right well does he exercise his calling. Unlike 
the Kestrel, which soars high in air and mostly preys on animals 
which when once seen have no power of escape, the Sparrow-Hawk 
is marked by its dashing, onward flight. Skimming rapidly across 
the open fields, by no means refusing to swoop on any bird or 
quadruped worthy of its notice, but not preferring this kind of hunt- 
