38 Birds of Buzzard's Roost 



The flight of the sparrow hawk is short and irregular, dart- 

 ing here and there, and it often suspends itself in midair in a 

 hovering attitude, much like a humming bird suspends itself 

 before a flower. In both instances the bird is searching for 

 food. I think it may be correctly said that, as a rule, the 

 sparrow hawk discovers its food while in flight. This is most 

 certainly true of the pair at Somerleaze, which I have studied 

 very carefully. The tree in which they nest is in a small field 

 about two hundred yards to the east of the cottage. Rarely 

 have I seen them launching from it into the air over that field 

 and pouncing upon their prey, but often I have seen them fly 

 over the cottage to the west fields and there hover in midair 

 watching for their prey and suddenly dropping upon it. On 

 one occasion, when on my way to the railroad station, I saw 

 one hover over a meadow for several minutes and then sudden- 

 ly and abruptly fly to another field. It had scarcely commenced 

 its hovering, .when it dropped from an altitude of about one 

 hundred feet and caught a field mouse. Most certainly they 

 must have telescopic eyes, for without them they could not see 

 grasshoppers and other like small objects from such great 

 heights. 



