98 THE SPARROW-HAWK. 



of the "Old Fir Park Wood," where they both breed — hence their 

 enmity. It is needless to say it was not pity for the lark, but 

 enmity to the hawk, that actuated the carrion crow. But each 

 one of us, man and bird, have a mission to fulfil. Then, as- 

 Burns says, let us 



" Uphold the dignity of man 

 With soul erect ; 

 And trust the universal plan 

 Will all protect." 



On another occasion, when I was standing on the long pier, I 

 saw a hawk skimming after a wagtail ; like the lark, it tried 

 every plan to elude the fatal clutch, as every creature does when 

 death is after it ; they dashed close past me, the hawk paying no 

 heed, so eager in the chase. On diving over the side of the pier 

 it made a rapid upward swoop, clutched the poor wagtail, then 

 flew up over the old Kirkhill brae, and over the old Abbey wall 

 to devour its prey in peace and solitude on the top of a tomb- 

 stone — those well-meant but perishable mementoes of the dead, 

 in the old Cathedral burying-ground, where the hawk of time 

 hath preyed with such havoc upon the so-called universal Church 

 of Rome, and its mockery of infallible priesthood. 



The unerring clutch of the wagtail reminded me of Southey's 

 true picture of his hero, Glaciadus, singling out a victim for his 

 fatal arrow, thus — 



" A keener glance 

 Darts not the hawk, when from the f eather'd tribe 

 He marks his prey." 



And if disturbed at its food, equally true is Tennyson when 



he says — 



" The wild hawk stood with the down on his beak, 

 And stared." 



One day, in May, I saw a male clutch a mavis from a hedge 

 with both feet and fly off with it, quite low, for about 400 yards, 

 then alight on the ground, and when I approached it flew off" 

 again, still flying low as if encumbered. 



On January 5th, 1887, a man shot a hawk with a lark in its- 

 talons at the Kinness burn ; they both fell. He took the lark 

 from the dying hawk ; the lark was alive but nearly all plucked, 

 except the crown of the head and tail ; it trembled all over ; he 

 put it in his pocket for heat and took it home, but it died in 

 about an hour. This proves that the hawk does not always 

 wait for death before plucking its victim, and yet it is part of a 

 universal creation, based on mercy, benevolence, and love. Let 



