152 NATURE'S STORY OF THE YEAR 



the day's hunt, speeding along the hedgerows in 

 search of mice which were late abroad. Often was 

 he on the near hills. He was a lovely adult bird, 

 with ashen-grey on the head, and richly-chequered 

 brown back ; his wings long and pointed, and their 

 glide a poem of motion. Once he was surprised 

 at a very short distance over the crest of a hill, and 

 while darting forth, with all his symmetry in clear 

 relief, he turned his head to see what was 

 threatened. Once he was seen to catch a sparrow. 

 When he heard the mock shriek with which the 

 trained bird had been called, he came swirling 

 down the valley, doubtless eager to drive away 

 some fancied trespasser of the same species. 



One day in the following spring a young fellow 

 called with a bird for sale. It was in a blackbird's 

 wicker cage, and very dirty. It looked like a 

 partridge ; a little round bird with a round head 

 and no tail. But the head was a hawk's head ; 

 the legs and feet were those of a hawk ; and the 

 nape of the neck was ashen-grey. It was hungry, 

 famishing, for it called out for food. 



" What on earth is that ? " said I. 



" A hawk, sir." 



