THE SPARROW HAWK 141 



name got converted into " sparrow " hawk, which 

 is not nearly so suitable, for it is but seldom the 

 owner kills sparrows, keeping, as a rule, away 

 from the houses and buildings where sparrows are 

 most numerous. This hawk is one of the wildest of 

 wild creatures. " As wild as a hawk " has passed 

 into a proverb, and when that saying was framed 

 there can be no question that it was the sparrow 

 hawk that was meant, for the spar-hawk has 

 always been known to falconers as the most 

 difficult of hawks to " man " and " make " i.e. 

 to tame and train. This is why it was regarded 

 as the young man's hawk. In manning and 

 making one of these little hawks the young 

 falconer would have to exercise every art of what 

 in those days was quite a science, and when, with 

 infinite patience and skill, he had brought this 

 wild termagant to tameness and docility, he was 

 considered to be something of a falconer, and to 

 be worthy to handle the noble peregrine or the 

 handsome gos. 



To one who only knows the sparrow hawk as a 

 darting grey-brown shape slipping between the 

 great trees of our woodlands, it will seem almost 

 incredible that such a bird can be tamed and 

 trained until she will come willingly from a long 

 distance to her owner's hand in response to his 

 call or whistle. Yet not only was this commonly 

 done in the old days when every one practised 

 hawking, but is still sometimes accomplished at 

 the present day. Though at no time has the spar- 

 hawk been a favourite, such an amount of time 



