712 



HAWK. 



also has fewer spots on the under part, which arc 

 generally oval-shaped and much paler. The female 

 is a much superior bird, being better shouldered or 

 winged, and at least a third larger in size. The eggs 

 of the gos-hawk seldom, if ever, exceed four in num- 

 ber. The young are much more of a red colour on 



Gos-liawk. 



the under parts than the mature birds. They go 

 through a variety of tints of plumage, and, as is gene- 

 rally the case with birds which do that, the standard 

 colour which they at last have is not uniform. The 

 gos-hawk is sometimes nearly white, and at other 

 times tawny, with a few markings, especially the 

 males. This species of hawk, varying in appearance, 

 as is stated to be general with the race, is very exten- 

 sively distributed over the northern parts both of the 

 eastern continent and of America. It is not found in 

 the extreme north of either ; and in the warmer 

 regions it gives place to feebler hawks ; but it extends 

 almost to the northern extremity of Europe, to Ice- 

 land, and to the Faroe islands. In Asia it does not 

 reach to so high latitudes as it does in Europe ; but 

 it extends farther to the south, being common in the 

 hilly parts of China, and still occasionally used by 

 the Chinese in hawking. In England it is so rare, 

 that it can hardly be said to be regularly resident in 

 any part of the country, except, perhaps, some of the 

 wild hilly districts in the north ; in Scotland it is more 

 abundant, though even there it is by no means a com- 

 mon bird ; and its haunts are local and peculiar. In 

 the rich parts of the lowlands it is hardly known as a 

 resident bird, and rarely seen as a visitant ; but in 

 those districts of the Highlands, where remnants of 

 those natural forests which once covered great part 

 of the country are still preserved, there is a greater 

 chance of seeing the gos-hawk. Even there, however, 

 it is to be seen in wild places only ; for it shuns the 

 habitations of men, and even the pastures of sheep 

 and cattle. The margins and openings of the woods 

 are its principal places of resort ; and its food con- 

 sists of the smaller mammalia and the larger ground 

 birds. Before the general introduction of sheep into 

 the Scottish uplands, the gos-hawk was more abun- 

 dant than it is now, and committed very considerable 

 ravages upon the mountain game ; and it is doubtful 

 whether the sheep, which certainly do occasionally 

 trample on the nests and break the eggs, may not on 

 the whole be a preserver of grouse on the h'iHs. It 

 may seem singular that a hawk, and a powerful hawk, 

 should avoid places where sheep are pasturing, be- 



ause they have neither the disposition nor the power 

 of offering it the smallest injury ; but it is a general 

 truth that all birds of prey shun every living creature 

 which does not come within the range of their usual 



e in its external appearance, and this is one strong 

 proof that such birds seek their prey only by the eye. 

 There are a vast number of other species, agreeing 

 more or less with the gos-hawk in its principal cha- 

 racters, to be found in various parts of the world, 

 and as far to the south as New Holland, and the ex- 

 tremity of South America. Little is known, however, 

 of their manners, and, so far as these are known, they 

 resemble the manners of the common gos-hawk ; and, 

 therefore, the enumeration of them would be a mere 

 list of names, without any interest to the general 

 reader. We shall, however, mention one American 

 species, from the singularity of its common English 

 name. 



THE LAUGHING HAWK (A, cachinnaus}. This spe- 

 cies has the legs and cere yellow ; eyelids white ; the 

 body variegated with brown and whitish colour. The 

 top of the head is black, and surrounded by a white 

 ring. It is a native of Paraguay, Cayenne, and other 

 parts of South America, haunting those savannahs 

 which are flooded and marshy grounds, and perching 

 on dried and elevated branches of trees, whence it is 

 conjectured to feed on fish, lizards, frogs, and other 

 reptiles. It is rather a stupid bird, occasionally utter- 

 ing a sound, which is expressed by its vermicular 

 appellation, and, when disturbed, giving a shrill and 

 sudden cry, as though it were laughing. Its manners 

 are much more soft and gentle than those of the gos- 

 hawk ; this is indeed a general character of all the 

 birds of prey in the warm regions, and it is worthy ot 

 remark as pointing out how nicely the energies and 

 resources of animals are adapted to their places on 

 the globe. A hawk which suits the comparatively- 

 warm and uniform climate of tropical America would 

 be but ill adapted for those burlettings by the storm 

 to which such a bird must submit in a northern part 

 of the world ; and, on the other hand, the greater 

 strength, spirit, and power of endurance which those 

 northern species possess, would be throw n away upon 

 an animal of warm climates, which would never have 

 occasion to bring them into use. It is in such 

 analogies that we see the beauties of nature, and 

 receive the most irresistible proofs that the whole of 

 it is one in design and in execution, and that perfect 

 knowledge of the whole must have existed on the 

 part of the Author before any part of it was called 

 into existence. 



We shall now mention an example of the sparrow- 

 hawks, which differ from the gos-hawks in the manner 

 formerly stated. They are birds of lighter make, 

 more constantly on the wing, much more daring, and 

 do not, as is the case with the others, flit before the 

 progress of cultivation. 



COMMON SPARROW-HAWK (A. nisns). In all the 

 richer and more lowland parts of Britain this species 

 is "the hawk;" or, if any thing additional in the 

 shape of a bird of prey is seen in such places, it is 

 one of the smaller falcons. Like the gos-hawk, the 

 sparrow-hawk is very generally distributed. The 

 male sparrow-hawk weighs about five ounces, and 

 the female about nine ; the former measures about a 

 foot in length, the latter about fifteen inches. The 

 bill is bluish, and dusky at the point : the cere yel- 

 low ; irides bright orange yellow ; the plumage of 

 the upper parts, in some of both sexes, are of a deep 



