06 THE SPARROW-HAWK. 



the wheeling or soaring of the long-winged birds of prey, which 

 outsoar, then swoop down upon their victims ; while it generally 

 flies below them, and being better equipped for speed, it 

 soon overtakes ; its long legs come into full play when snatching 

 in the passing, whether it be a single bird or through the centre 

 of the flock, from which sometimes it emerges with a bird in each 

 grasp. It is full of fire and action, and, like a human fool, 

 utterly void of sense or fear when after prey. It will dash 

 through a pane of glass at a caged canary, or snatch a panting 

 lark from the hand of the most daring soldier, defying him to 

 his teeth, while its bright yellow fiery eyes seem burning like 

 sparks of living gold. 



A servant told me, that when cleaning a room in the south 

 side of the city — the under sash of the window up — a canary 

 singing in its cage — a crash was heard. On looking at the window 

 there was a sparrow-hawk jammed in between the sashes ; it had 

 broken the one pane but failed to get through the other. After 

 recovering from her fright she extracted the daring little thief, 

 and set it free to steal or kill, and so fulfil its mission according 

 to the wise design of Nature — or say Providence; for Shakespeare, 

 borrowing from what is called Holy Writ, makes Hamlet say — 



" We defy augury — 

 There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow," 



and no doubt a special design in the use of the sparrow-hawk. 



To show the excellent use Shakespeare made of birds, when 

 Mrs Ford and Mrs Page bribed Falstaff's young page to their 

 service of preying upon Sir John, he makes Mrs Ford say to the 

 page — " How now, my eyas musket, what news V and as an 

 "eyas musket" means an unfledged sparrow-hawk, it show's his 

 discernment. Equally so is Mr Page's expression to Mr Ford, 

 when baffled by their wives — "I invite you to my house to 

 breakfast ; after, we'll a-birding together ; I have a fine hawk for 

 the bush " — the sparrow-hawk being the only one that could 

 hawk amongst bushes. Or, as he makes Hamlet say to the 

 players— "We'll e'en to't like French falconers, fly at anything we 

 see. We'll have a speech straight,'*' which stamps the poet of 

 all time and things. 



A friend of mine when walking by the side of the Kinness- 

 burn saw a hawk chasing a bird ; he stood and watched them. 

 As a last resort the poor lark flew into the opening of his vest ; 

 he had hardly time to put wp his hand to save it, when the hawk 

 dashed against his breast and fell stunned — narrowly escaping 



