Preying by Stealth 351 



justifies, whether or not it first suggested the comparison, 

 and recalls the lowland Scotch saying, which, speaking of a 

 wideawake man, declares that, " like a gleg-eed hawk, he'll 

 niver gang a-gley." 



In a general way, a wild Sparrow-Hawk seems to prefer 

 taking her prey by semi-stealth, gliding up to it with the 

 swiftness of an arrow, and sweeping it from its perch almost 

 before her presence has been suspected. In captivity, how- 

 ever, it is readily trained to take small birds upon the wing, 

 and every now and again a similar flight, in a state of nature, 

 may be witnessed. Near Borth, I saw one follow a Swallow 

 high into the air, turning and twisting with it, like a grey- 

 hound in close pursuit of a hare ; and though victory 

 ultimately rested with the Swallow, it was to dexterity in 

 shifting, not to speed, that it owed its life. The chase 

 lasted several minutes. On other occasions I have seen a 

 Swallow captured. One day, near Llanuwchllyn, a pair of 

 Partridges, put up on a hillside, were instantly followed by 

 a female Sparrow-Hawk, that suddenly shot past a keeper 

 and myself. All three were very quickly hidden from view 

 by an inequality of the ground ; but walking along the side 

 of a wall, in the direction in which the chase had led, we 

 soon came up with the hawk seated upon, and engaged in 

 plucking her prey. Luckily for her, the keepers do not 

 usually carry guns there, and the hawk escaped, but we 

 robbed her of her prey, though not until she had made a 

 resolute attempt to carry it off, despite its weight. 



Frequently a Sparrow-Hawk will follow its victim into 

 the thickest cover, dashing even into a hedge, with an 

 impetuosity that would seem to threaten serious damage to 

 plumage, if not actually to limb, or life ; yet there would 

 generally appear to be some method in its madness, for it is 

 rarely that so much as a feather suffers. Should a flight 

 feather be broken, however, it is usually cast soon afterwards, 

 irrespective of season ; for, although it is difficult to suppose 

 that a bird is able to exercise any direct control over the 

 mysteries of its moult, the result of serious damage to an 

 important feather is generally to excite into activity those 

 latent forces which induce the growth of a new one to take 



