TAMED HAWKS. 141 



and though for some days after his first appearance, he had it 

 all to himself, the Pigeons not liking such an intruder, they 

 shortly hecame good friends, and he was never known even to 

 touch 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 

 vfith whom he was familiar. The narrator of the above con- 

 cludes his account by adding, that he was as playful as a kitten 

 and as loving as a dove. In Egypt and Turkey, too, a particular 

 species is often domesticated, and may be seen in the farm- 

 yards and gardens, like the Sparrow-hawk just mentioned, in 

 company with Pigeons, without showing any inclination to 

 injure them; and in the course of 1833, a Hawk, which we 

 believe to be of a similar species to that domesticated in 

 Turkey, namely, the common Buzzard, not only sat upon the 

 eggs of a common barn-door fowl, but instead of devouring 

 them when hatched, according to its natural habit, actually 

 paid them considerable attention, as long as they were allowed 

 to remain in the place where they were hatched, though when 

 removed to another more spacious enclosed situation, with the 

 brood, notwithstanding she showed no inclination to kill them, 

 she avoided them altogether, and incessantly struggled round 

 the enclosure in hopes of escaping. 



Another instance has been noticed near Lichfield. A female 

 of the same species, domesticated and kept in a garden, was 

 set with some eggs of the common poultry, which she hatched 

 at the usual time. When the chickens were freed from the 

 shell, this strange stepmother defended them in the most furious 

 manner, scarcely allowing any person to approach the wooden 

 box in which they were hatched and kept, and to which they 

 retired whenever they chose ; and no dog or cat could venture 

 near without being stoutly assailed by the Buzzard. Its fury 

 far surpassed that of a common Hen, as long as the chickens 

 were young and helpless, but gradually slackened as they grew 

 older ; the habits of affection, however, never entirely ceased, 



