FOR CAGES AND AVIARIES. 



i i 



15 inches in length, and he only n or 12 inches. In 

 appearance, too, they are different, the female being brown 

 and lacking to a great extent the "bloom" that adds so 

 much to the attractiveness of the male. 



The nest is built in high trees, and advantage is often 

 taken of the deserted abode of a Carrion Crow or a 

 Magpie ; the same place is resorted to season after season, 

 the necessary 

 repairs being 

 made before 

 the eggs are 

 laid. These are 

 bluish-white in 

 colour and are 

 much marked 

 with reddish- 

 brown. 



The young at 

 first are covered 

 with grey down, 

 and the young 

 females are 

 easily differen- 

 tiated by their, 

 superior size, 

 which is almost 

 invariably the 

 case with all 

 kinds of birds 

 of prey. 



Although such 

 deadly enemies 

 to all small 

 birds, the latter 



sometimes combine to chase and heckle one of them; 

 and although at other times active enough on the wing, 

 the Sparrow-Hawk on such occasions contents himself 

 with gliding aimlessly about for a time, and then darts 

 swiftly away in a straight line, soon distancing his small 

 but numerous and most persistent tormentors. 



THE SPARROW-HAWK. 



