10 BIRDS OF MIDDLESEX. 



have come under my notice have been females ; but 

 I apprehend that the reason of this is, that the 

 female Sparrowhawk is much bolder than the male, 

 and that it more frequently comes near us when in 

 search of food. The male bird, on the contrary, 

 being of more retired habits, keeps to the woods. 

 Mr. Belfrage tells me that he has remarked the 

 same with regard to the Kestrel. 



Kite, Falco milvus. A curious fact, touching the 

 earlier Ornithology of Middlesex and the economy 

 of London, is mentioned by the old naturalist, 

 Charles Clusius, in a note to his translation of the 

 works of the French Ornithologist, Pierre Belon. 

 He says : " Vix majorem in Cairo milviorum fre- 

 quentiam conspici existimo, quam LoncUnii Treno- 

 hantium in Britannia, qui nullo non anni tempore 

 frequentissimi istic apparent, cum eos enim inter- 

 ficere vetitum sit, ut spurcitiam in plateas, vel etiam 

 ipsum flumen Thamesin qui urbem alluit ab incolis 

 ejectum, legant et devorent ; maxima quantitate eo 

 confluent, adeoque cicures redduntur, ut per confectas 

 etiam homines prsedam ab ipsis in alto volantibus 

 conspectam, comissere non vereantur, quod ssepe 

 numero dum istic essem, admiratus sum." — Op. O. 

 Clusvi, p. 108. 



Clusius visited England during the reign of Eliza- 

 beth, in 1571, and a fact like this, of daily occurrence, 

 and therefore little likely to be recorded by a native 

 of London, would at once strike a foreigner. As 



