114 SPAKBOW-HAWK. 



food to them from the air, so as to avoid the trap himself: 

 all the birds thus brought to them were plucked, and had 

 the heads taken off. Meyer says that the Sparrow-Hawk 

 hides himself behind a bush to devour his prey, being very 

 jealous of observation: he sometimes pounces on the decoy 

 birds of the fowler. 



Nidification commences in April. 



The nest, which has frequently been the previous tenement 

 of a crow, magpie, or other bird, is builfc in fir or other 

 trees, or even bushes of but moderate height, as also in the 

 crevices or on ledges of rocks, and on old ruins. It is large 

 in size, flat in shape, and composed of twigs, sometimes with, 

 but often without, a little lining of feathers, hair, or grass. 

 It seems, however, to be but seldom its own architect, but 

 the same nest is sometimes resorted to from year to year; 

 in fact, it is the opinion of Mr. Hewitson, no mean one, 

 that the Falcons very rarely make a nest for themselves an 

 action of ejectment is commenced in person against some 

 other tenant at its own will of its own property no notice 

 to quit having previously been given; and, notwithstanding 

 this legal defect, forcible possession proves to be nine points 

 of the law, and 'contumely' is all the explanation that 'patient 

 merit of the unworthy takes.' 



The eggs are of a rotund form, bluish white in colour, 

 much blotted, particularly at the base, with very deep reddish 

 brown, and from three to five or six, or even seven, in number. 

 They vary, however, very frequently in their markings, which, 

 in some instances, are obscure and indistinct, and in others, 

 the dark blots are at the smaller instead of the larger end. 

 The young are hatched after an incubation of three weeks. 



In no species of Hawk is the disparity in the size of the 

 sexes more conspicuous than in the one at present before us. 

 Male; weight, from five to six ounces; length, from eleven 

 inches and a half, to one foot one inch. Bill, light blue at 

 the base, bluish black at the end; cere, greenish yellow; iris, 

 bright yellow: it is protected above by a strong bony pro- 

 jection, on which the feathers are partly white: bristles from 

 the base of the bill overhang the nostrils. The feathers on 

 the back of the head are white at the base, and seen more 

 or less as they are raised, giving that part an indistinct 

 mark. The forehead and sides of the head are yellowish red. 

 Neck, pale red in front, the shafts dark; chin and throat, 

 very pale or rusty or yellowish red; each feather has five 



