SPARROW-HAWK. 113 
kindness, he so far overcame the natural disposition of this 
Hawk, that in time it formed a friendship with the pigeons, 
and associated with them. At first the pigeons were rather 
shy of meeting their natural enemy on such an occasion, but 
they soon became familiarized, and approached without fear. 
It was curious to observe the playfulness of the Hawk, and 
his perfect good humour during the feeding time; for. he 
received his portion without any of that ferocity with which 
birds of prey usually take their food, and merely uttered a 
ery of lamentation when disappointed of his morsel. When 
the feast was over, he would attend the pigeons in their 
flight round and round the house and gardens, and perch 
with them on the chimney-top or roof of the house; and 
this voyage he never failed to take early every morning, when 
the pigeons took their exercise. At night he retired and 
roosted with them in the dove-cote, and though for some 
days after his first appearance he had it all to himself, the 
pigeons not liking such an intruder, they shortly became good 
friends, and he was never known to touch even a young one, 
unfledged, helpless, and tempting as they must have been. 
He seemed quite unhappy at any separation from them, and 
when purposely confined in another abode, he constantly uttered 
most melancholy cries, which were changed to tones of joy 
and satisfaction on the appearance of any person with whom 
he was familiar. The narrator of the above concludes his 
account by adding, that he was as playful as a kitten, and 
as loving as a dove.’ Meyer records an instance near Wey- 
bridge, of a pair of wood-pigeons building their nest and 
rearing their young in a cedar tree, which was at the same 
time the ‘locale’ of a pair of Sparrow-Hawks. 
Before the nest is begun to be built, and while it is building, 
the birds may be seen soaring, though not very high, over 
the eyrie, and darting and diving about. When first the 
female begins to sit, she is shy, but becomes by degrees more 
assiduous in her task. The male does not watch, nor does 
either bird display the emotions evinced by the true Falcons 
in the care of their nest. When the young are hatched, 
rather more anxiety is depicted, and much courage shewn, at 
least in the case of the female, the male flying off from an 
enemy; and one instance is recorded of a female dashing at 
an intruder and knocking off his cap. A male has been 
known to feed the young for eight days after his partner 
had been captured, and as it would seem, by dropping the 
VOL. I. I 
