Qtctt'annvj) of gmmatctf $<iturc. 631 ; 



habits. I despaired of being able to trace 

 its character satisfactorily, and I should 

 probably have long remained in ignorance 

 of it, had I not visited the southern parts of 

 Europe. My arrival at Rome let me at once 

 into the secret. The bird to which the re- 

 pentant king of Israel compared himself in 

 the seven penitential psalms is a real thrush 

 in size, in shape, in habits, and in song ; 

 with this difference from the rest of the tribe, 

 that it is remarkable throughout all the 

 East for sitting solitary on the habitations 

 of man. The first time I ever saw this lonely 

 plaintive songster was in going to hear mass 

 in the magnificent church of the Jesuits at 

 Rome. The dawn was just appearing, and 

 the bird passed over my head, in its transit 

 from the roof of the palace Odescalchi to the 

 belfry of the church of the Twelve Apostles, 

 singing as it flew. I thought it had been 

 the Italian blackbird, with notes somewhat 

 different from those of our own ; for its song 

 was partly that of the blackbird, and partly 

 that of the stormcock, but not so loud as the 

 last, nor so varied as the first. I found out 

 my mistake in due time ; and, on seeing 

 that the bird was the true Solitary Thrush, 

 I pnid particular attention to its habits. It 

 is indeed a solitary bird, for it never asso- 

 ciates with any other, and only with its own 

 mate at breeding time ; and even then it is 

 often seen quite alone upon the house-top, 

 where it warbles in sweet and plaintive 

 strains, and continues its song as it moves in 

 easy flight from roof to roof. It lays five 

 eggs of a very pale blue. They much re- 

 semble those of our Starling. The bird itself 

 is blue, with black wings and tail ; the blue 

 of the body becoming lighter when placed 

 in different attitudes." 



SPARROW-HAWK. (FaZco tAccipiter] 

 nisus.) This is a bold and spirited bird, but 

 the most pernicious of the Hawk kind that 

 inhabits Britain, making great depredations 

 among pigeons, partridges, and the young of 

 domestic poultry. The difference of size be- 

 tween the male and female is very dispro- 

 portionate ; the former measuring about 

 twelve, and the latter fifteen inches. Indi- 

 viduals of this species also vary considerably 

 in their colours : in some, the back, head, 

 coverts of the wings, and tail, are of a deep 

 bluish-gray, edged with a rusty red. The 

 quill-feathers arc dusky, barred with black 

 on their exterior webs, and spotted with 

 white on the lower part of the interior webs. 

 On the tail, which is of a deep ash-colour, 

 there are fine broad black bars, and the tip 

 is white. The breast and belly are of a 

 cream-colour, with transverse bars at the 

 base, of a deep brown in some, and orange- 

 colour in others ; and the skin at the base of 

 the bill, the irides, and the legs, are yellow. 

 The colours of the female are different from 

 those of the male : the head, back, and 

 coverts of the wings being browner, and the 

 tail of a brighter dove colour ; the waved 

 lines on the breast more numerous, and the 

 breast containing a greater portion of white. 

 She builds her nest in hollow trees, high 

 rocks, or lofty ruins ; sometimes in the old 

 iiest of a crow ; and generally lays four or 



five whitish eggs, spotted with red at the 

 thicker end. Mr. Selby says that it occa- 

 sionally makes its nest in low trees or thorn- ! 

 bushes, that it is flat and shallow, and very 

 similar to that of the ring-dove, but rather ' 



SPARROW-HAWK. 

 (FAI.OO [ACOIPITERJ msoe.) 



larger, and la composed of tender twigs. 

 The Sparrow-hawk is found, in considerable 

 numbers, in various parts of the world, from 

 Russia to the Cape of Good Hope. This bird 

 was held iu great veneration among the 

 ancient Egyptians, because it was made the 

 emblem of their god Osiris. Among the 

 Greeks it was consecrated to Apollo. 



The AMERICAN SPARROW-HAWK (Falco 

 tparveriut} is a beautifully marked bird, be- 

 longing to the same siibdivison which con- 

 tains the Kcatrel, and appears to reside 

 principally in the warmer parts of the United 

 States : they are found also in the West 

 Indies, south of the Equator. The female 

 is eleven inches long ; the male not quite 

 ten. The cere and legs are yellow ; the 

 head bluish ash ; crown rufous. The upper 

 parts are reddish-bay, striped transversely 

 with dusky brown ; the lower parts pale 

 yellowish white, marked with longitudinal 

 spots of brown : the claws black. The nest 

 is built in a hollow, shattered, or decayed 

 tree, at a considerable elevation. It lays 

 four or five eggs, of a light brownish colour, 

 and spotted with brown. It preys upon 

 parrows and other small birds, also mice, 

 | grasshoppers, and lizards ; but it has been 

 [ remarked that it will very seldom, if ever, 

 ! eat of any thing which it has not itself 

 1 killed. 



Another species, called the COLLARED 

 SPAKHOW-HAWK, (Accipiter torquatus\ 

 which is well known in Van Diemen's Land 

 and New South Wales, has all the bold and 

 daring characteristics of its European ally. 

 The head and all the upper part of the 

 plumage is a deep brownish gray, the tail 

 indistinctly barred with deep brown, and on 

 the back of the neck an obscure collar of 

 reddish brown ; the throat, breast, and 

 thighs, rufous, crossed by mimerous bars of 

 white ; under surface of the wings and tail 

 gray, barred with brown ; irides and eyelash 

 yellow ; cere green ; bill lead-colour, the 



