THE SPARROW-HAWK 111 



air. But besides, he seems to deposit a certain amount of food in a 

 "larder" in the neighbourhood of the nest, a practice common among 

 hawks, and from thence it is fetched at need by the female, on 

 whom, it seems, the task of feeding the young devolves. 1 Occasion- 

 ally, it would seem, the young develop cannabalistic appetites, for 

 Ussher and Warren (Birds of Ireland, p. 133) record an instance 

 where a nest that had contained four young was visited, and only 

 three were found sitting on a leg of the fourth, which had been eaten 

 by its nest-fellows. Such cases of cannibalism are not rare among 

 the Raptores. 



The ceaseless activity of the adults is reflected in the young, for 

 even before they are fully fledged they will, on alarm, scramble out of 

 the nest on to the branches of the tree, using the beak parrot-fashion 

 as an aid. Before finally quitting the nursery, it may be remarked, 

 they repair to neighbouring trees, there to be fed by their parents. 

 Between meals they occupy the time in flapping from branch to 

 branch, trying and strengthening their pinions, and doubtless on their 

 first flight they receive instruction in the art of taking prey, as is 

 commonly the case among birds of prey. 



Both on sentimental and scientific grounds one can but regret 

 that these most interesting birds have been, and unfortunately still 

 are, opprobriously branded as "vermin," for they are undoubtedly 

 useful, though at times their depredations need a wholesome check. 

 But those of us who are interested in wild life, and in the problems of 

 evolution, feel that were this bird less persecuted we might perchance 

 discover, from more frequent opportunities of observation, what are 

 the factors which have determined the striking disparity in size 

 between the sexes, and why the exceptionally long and slender toes 

 are provided with such large " tylari" These bulbs beneath the toe- 

 joints, present in all Accipitres, and evidently useful to increase their 

 grip, are in the sparrow-hawk exceedingly long and slender. 



By falconers the sparrow-hawk, from time immemorial, and still, is 



1 See also, in confirmation of this, Edmund Selous, Zoologist, 1911, p. 179. 



