Accipitres 123 



and Asia, and from Scandinavia by way of Germany to 

 Turkey and Lower Egypt. It differs from the Golden 

 Eagle in its entirely white tail and bare feet, while the 

 head is streaked with brown and white. Its flight is 

 even stronger and its cry more of a yelp. The nest, 

 sometimes built on the ground in marshes or on islands 

 in lakes, with us now is in precipitous cliffs, and may 

 be composed of sea-weed where sticks are scarce. The 

 two eggs are white. By far the greatest number of 

 the birds that stray to England are White-tailed and 

 not Golden Eagles. 



The Sparrow-hawk (Accipiter nisus) is a dashing 

 marauder whose short wings and long tail combine to 

 produce easy steering with rapid flight ; it preys upon 

 birds caught as it dashes along the fields and hedgerows, 

 and eats them upon the ground, where it leaves little 

 heaps of feathers. Its cry is sharp, its nest a large flat 

 structure of sticks and twigs having a depression in the 

 centre to contain the four or five greenish white eggs 

 boldly marked with reddish or blackish brown, which 

 have a peculiarly thick shell. The site chosen is most 

 commonly in a fir-tree. This well-known bird is found 

 throughout our woodlands, as well as over the whole 

 Palsearctic region. It is grey-blue above and buff 

 below, the tail and under parts being barred, and the 

 cheeks rufous ; the female has usually a greyer breast 

 and rufous flanks. 



The Goshawk (Astur palumbarius), formerly much 

 used in falconry, used to breed in northern Scotland 

 until .the end of the eighteenth century, while in 

 England it was once the custom to turn out the old 

 birds to nest in the woods, with a view to capturing 

 the young subsequently. It is now a very rare visitor 



