64 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES. 



LETTER VI. 



" The thieves have bound the true men : Now could thou 

 and I rob the thieves !" KING HENRY IV. 



The Sparrowhawk pre-eminently a Bird-destroyer Adap- 

 tation of Structure to Habits Separation of the Sexes 

 during Winter Recklessness when in pursuit of its 

 Prey Anecdote Injurious to feathered Game dur- 

 ing the Breeding Season Remarkable Instance of 

 Voracity A Family of Poachers Their depredations 

 Capture of the Gang. 



As the windhover is the most insectivorous, 

 harmless, and even useful of our native Falconidae, 

 so the sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus), in propor- 

 tion to its size and powers, is the most carnivorous 

 of the family. Unlike the kestrel, it prefers birds 

 to quadrupeds, and from its great courage and au- 

 dacity, as well as a silent and stealthy mode of 

 approaching its unsuspecting victims, its depreda- 

 tions among the feathered tribes far exceed those 

 of any of our raptorial birds. By the way, the 



