THE SPARROW HAWK 137 



of their life wear a striped plumage, which at the 

 first moult gives place to the horizontal bars of 

 maturity. But the nestling sparrow hawk acquires 

 these bars straight away. 



The sparrow hawk, despite its sober hues, is 

 a handsome bird, being a study in ash-browns 

 and greys, which are set off by the yellow of its 

 legs and eyes, the latter in old birds approaching 

 orange, for the tint deepens with age. Its plumage, 

 too, alters with succeeding moults, becoming much 

 more grey, especially in the case of the cocks, 

 which often have an almost blue tinge on the 

 back and tail. 



Even on the wing the sparrow hawk need not 

 be confused with the kestrel, for they fly so differ- 

 ently. The subject of this chapter usually flies 

 low, especially when hunting, skimming along 

 the ground, up a hedgeside, or darting between 

 the trees, when it will drop on some unsuspecting 

 bird, grabbing it in its needlelike talons and carrying 

 it off before the victim is even aware danger is at 

 hand. A favourite habit is to fly up a ditch, 

 skim over the fence, and dash into a flock of small 

 birds feeding on the farther side. With frantic cries 

 the birds hurl themselves into the nearest shelter 

 all, that is, save one, for the hawk seldom makes 

 a mistake, generally securing a meal and going 

 off with one of the unfortunate finches. Apropos 

 of this hawk's habit of flying along a hedge, 

 there must be mentioned the episode of one 

 that my brother and I chased in a car for quite 

 a mile and a half, We were travelling up a long 



