7<5 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Taking small lizards. 



doubtless was intended as a mode of security, 

 though it has long been rendered destructive by 

 the invention of' nets and guns. 



A hen harrier that was shot some years ago in 

 the vicinity of London, was first observed dodg-r 

 ing roifnd the lower parts of some old trees, and 

 sometimes appearing to strike against the trunks 

 of them with its beak or talons, but still continu- 

 ing on the wing. ' The cause of this singular 

 conduct could not be surmised, till after the bird 

 was killed; when, on opening its stomach, nearly 

 twenty small brown lizards were found there, 

 which it had artfully seized, by coming suddenly 

 round upon them. They were each bitten or 

 torn in two or three pieces. 



These destructive birds breed annually on the 

 Cheviot-hills; and from a hen harrier and ring- 

 tail having been shot on the same nest, it seems 

 that these are not two distinct species, however 

 different they may be in appearance, but in 

 reality the male and female of the same. Their 

 nests are formed on the groundj and the usual 

 number of young is about four. They are fre- 

 quently caught in a trap baited with a stuffed; 

 jrabbit's skin, and covered over with moss, 



THE SPARROW HAWK. 



THIS bird is rather larger than a common- 

 ized pigeon ; it has a short-hooked bill, rather 

 3 



