THE BIRD-LIFE OF LONDON 



seize some unsuspecting small bird sitting quietly on a 

 spray, or as suddenly drop to the ground and strike a 

 terror-stricken victim there. This Hawk is the terror of 

 the countryside, the dread of all the smaller birds, and 

 the captor of many species much larger and heavier than 

 itself. Frogs, field-mice, rats, and young rabbits are also 

 taken. The Sparrow-Hawk always builds its own nest a 

 large, flat structure, usually placed on a branch close to 

 the trunk in a tall tree, a fir or pine for preference, and 

 made of sticks, some of them with green buds attached. 

 Here in April or May the female lays four to six very 

 pretty eggs, pale greenish blue, handsomely splashed and 

 spotted with reddish brown, pale brown, and grey. Very 

 often these markings chiefly form an irregular zone round 

 one end. Both parents incubate, and when the young 

 are hatched the old birds become even more rapacious, 

 ceaseless in their hunting for prey. The female especially 

 sits very closely, often remaining on the nest until the 

 climber reaches it. She is also very bold in its defence, 

 swooping past the intruder's head, whilst the male, high 

 in the air above, sails round and round in circles anxiously 

 awaiting events. 



The male Sparrow-Hawk is dark slate-grey above, 

 with a white patch on the nape ; the wings and tail are 

 brown, the latter barred with darker brown ; the under 

 parts are rufous brown, palest on the throat and under 

 tail-coverts, barred with a darker tint of the same. The 

 female, which is nearly twice the size, has the upper 

 parts brown, relieved with a similar pale nuchal patch, 

 and the under parts greyish white barred with brown. 

 The young in first plumage vary considerably in colour 

 even in the same nest, but resemble the female in a 

 general way, although the upper parts are marked with 

 reddish brown. Bill bluish horn ; cere, tarsi, and toes 

 yellow ; claws black ; irides yellow. Length of adult male 

 about 13 inches ; adult females 2 to 3 inches longer. 

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