THE SPARROW HAWK 151 



doubt that the hawk had been robbed of her 

 first nest with part of the clutch, so hurriedly 

 repaired this old nest and laid the rest of her 

 eggs in it. 



By the way, it is also stated that the sparrow 

 hawk does not breed until two years old, but it is 

 a point that is difficult to prove. I can only say 

 that I turned a trained female loose in a certain 

 wood and that a hawk, which appeared to be the 

 same, remained in it, mated, and made a nest the 

 following spring, when, if it was my bird, she would 

 be only twelve months old. One thing that made 

 me believe it was my hawk was that she killed only 

 blackbirds, which was the quarry that mine had 

 been flown at. 



The eggs are laid about the middle of May, 

 and number from five to seven, six being the 

 usual clutch. They are very handsome, being 

 white, heavily blotched with brown. They 

 vary somewhat, and often the last one will not 

 be so well marked as the earlier laid eggs. The 

 old bird begins to sit before the last of the clutch 

 are laid, when she betrays her presence in a peculiar 

 way. As soon as incubation has begun she sheds 

 the soft down from beneath her feathers, many 

 bits of which are sure to decorate not only the 

 nest, but also the branches near at hand, so even 

 from the ground one can tell when she has begun 

 to sit. Though the cock takes no part in the 

 sitting, he is a devoted mate, bringing his spouse 

 food, and generally dancing attendance on her, 

 so that she has no need to hunt for herself ; indeed, 



