SPARROW HAWK 



slccipiter nisus 



HH Sparrow Hawk is the commonest and most widely dis- 

 tributed of our British Hawks, and may be found in all 

 wooded localities throughout Great Britain and Ireland. 

 In the wild and treeless moors and glens of the north 

 and west of Scotland, the Hebrides, Orkneys, and Shet- 

 land, it is much rarer, and in some localities is only known 

 as a summer visitor. 



The favourite haunts of the Sparrow Hawk are the woods, plantations, 

 and coppices among well cultivated lands, where small birds abound, and the belts 

 and clumps of firs along the edges of the moors or in the little glens; there he 

 may be seen flying silently and swiftly along the edge of the wood, in search 

 of his prey, darting after it like an arrow through the tangle of branches on 

 the edge of the cover. 



Whenever a bird is pursued it instantly endeavours to hide itself in some 

 dense cover into which the Hawk cannot penetrate ; there it will lie hid till its 

 enemy has departed. The evening is perhaps the best time to see the Sparrow 

 Hawk in pursuit of his prey, as this appears to be his favourite hunting-hour. 

 Down he comes like a thunderbolt past the evergreens where the Greenfinches 

 are assembling to roost, and is aloft again with one of them quivering in his 

 talons almost before you have seen him. Even in the farmyard, among the stacks, 

 he brings terror among the crowds of small birds feeding on the scattered grain 

 and seeds; gliding along like a shadow, he moves past, bearing off one of them 

 in his claws. He will often carry off the young chickens from under the hen- 

 wife's nose. The rapacity of the bird is indeed marvellous, and instances 

 of his boldness are without number. I well remember seeing one meet his 

 death by his very boldness. A Robin had got into the house and was fluttering 

 at one of the windows trying to find some way of escape. I happened to come 

 into the room, and, seeing the poor prisoner, was going forward to release him, 

 when there was a tremendous crash against the plate-glass, and a dark object 

 fell down outside ; on going out, I found a Sparrow Hawk lying on the grass, 

 quite dead, with its skull fractured. This is evidently not a rare occurrence, as 

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