66 Forest Birds. 



of the hawk, and now they are even following it. A 

 mad frenzy, perhaps, suddenly seizes on them, and 

 fear forsakes them momentarily, or, may be, numbers 

 give them courage. Possibly they know that the 

 hawk, encumbered with one of their number, cannot 

 seize another. In olden days, this hawk was much 

 prized by falconers, being flown at partridges and 

 quails, and it is still used in foreign countries for 

 such purpose. 



Next to the kestrel, the Sparrow-hawk is the 

 most widely distributed of all our hawks. It delights 

 in a wooded country, and may be found in such 

 districts throughout England. In Scotland it is 

 common, save in the rocky isles of the Hebrides, 

 Orkneys and Shetlands, where it is very rarely found. 

 In Ireland, too, wherever there are suitable woods it 

 lives and breeds. 



The nest is usually built by the bird itself, but 

 sometimes the old or deserted nest of a crow or 

 woodpigeoii is patched up and used as a nesting- pi ace. 

 It is composed of sticks, and lined with fine twigs, 

 grass and a few feathers. The one figured in the 

 accompanying plate was placed at the end of 

 a beech-bough about seventy feet from the ground 

 a dizzy climb. It was very slightly made, and 

 evidently belonged to a pair of young birds, as they 

 are not so careful as the older ones in making their 



