THE SPARROWHAWK 83 



and markings are different. His upper plumage is a The 

 dull chestnut brown, except that the head and tail 

 are, if he is an old bird, of a pigeon-blue. The plumage 

 of the under side is mostly of a fawn colour ; and the 

 whole body is marked with dark spots or bars. The 

 female and the young bird want the pigeon-blue on 



so head and tail otherwise they are similarly coloured 

 and marked to the male, with the brown shade some- 

 what lighter. When perched, the kestrel occasionally 

 presents the look of a parrot, what with his long tail, 

 compact body, sagacious eye and beak, and round 

 blunt head. The colours of the sparrowhawk, on the The 

 other hand, are slate-grey above and whitish-grey 

 below. It is easily distinguished by the cinnamon 

 transverse bars on breast and belly. These transverse 

 bars, and other points of likeness, have made a con- 



90 fusion of it and the cuckoo in the country mind ; and, 

 indeed, it is sometimes referred to (in old verse de- 

 scriptive of the sport of hawking) as a cuckoo. If 

 we consider figure and feathers only, the hawk is 

 certainly a handsome bird ; but in its mode of life, its 

 movements, and general demeanour, the kestrel is the The 

 sovereign bird. He puts forth from his nest, without 

 the subterfuge of by-ways, boldly and at once into the bird. 

 wide arch of heaven, where, if the sun flash out, he 

 shows red against the grey cloud or the blue sky. 



100 Small though he is, he seems to fill the circle of the 

 heavens as he wheels with proud ease round the 

 encompassing sky. There is a majesty in his move- 

 ment which, once seen, is not forgotten. And his cry, 

 which sounds like teerie or Jceeyer, is uttered as if 

 with a passion of eager delight, strong, piercing, and 

 repeated. 



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