THE SPAKROW HAWK. 8 



Its constitution is very hardy, and as it will feed on almost any animal nourishment, 

 it gives very little trouble to its owner. 



This species is found spread over nearly the whole of Europe and Asia, and has also 

 been seen in Northern Africa. The nest of this bird is generally placed on the topmost 

 boughs of some lofty tree, and the eggs are of a uniform spotless blue-white. Their 

 number is from three to four, and the young are hatched about May or the beginning 

 of June. 



In colour, the adult birds of both sexes are very similar to each other, the tinting of 

 the plumage being briefly as follows. The top of the head and the entire upper portions 

 of the body and wings are grey-brown, and the under portions of the body, together with 

 a band over the cheeks and the back of the neck, are nearly white, diversified with 

 numerous irregular spots, splashes, and partial bars of black. The cheeks and ear-coverts 

 are dark greyish-brown, the upper surface of the tail is the same hue as the back, and 

 barred with dark brown ; the under tail-coverts are white. The cere, legs, and toes are 

 yellow, the claws black, and the beak blue-black. In the female the grey-brown of the 

 back is a more ruddy hue, and in the young the plumage is curiously diversified with 

 reddish-white, buff, and grey. 



A VERY beautiful species of this genus, the NEW HOLLAND WHITE EAGLE (Astur 

 Novce Hollandice) is found in Australia, and is remarkable for the frequency with which 

 its plumage assumes a snowy-white hue, the ordinary colouring being grey above and 

 white below. The eyes of this bird are very curious, for in some specimens they are of 

 a rich brown, in others of a topaz-yellow, while in others they are ruby-red. The cere, 

 legs, and claws are yellow, and the bill black. The disproportion between the comparative 

 dimensions of the sexes is remarkably great in this species, the male being barely half the 

 size of his mate. 



The well-known SPARROW HAWK is almost as familiar to us as the kestrel, the two 

 birds being, indeed, often confounded with each other by those who ought to know better. 

 This fine and active little bird is an inhabitant of many portions of the world, being very 

 common in nearly all parts of Europe, equally so in Egypt and Northern Africa, and 

 being very frequently found in India and other Asiatic countries. The genus Accfpiter 

 finds representatives in every quarter of the globe, species being found in North and South 

 America, in Madagascar, in Western and Southern Africa, in Java, and Australia. 



Although the Sparrow Hawk inhabits England in great numbers, it is not so often 

 seen as might be imagined, for it is a most wild, shy, and wary bird, and never ventures 

 near human dwellings, or within a considerable distance of human beings, unless urged 

 by hunger or carried away by the ardour of pursuit. As a general rule, to get within 

 ordinary gunshot of a Sparrow Hawk is no easy matter ; but if the Hawk be watched as 

 he is hovering about a flock of sparrows or other small birds, he may be approached 

 without much difficulty, his entire attention being engaged on his expected prey. Indeed, 

 while engaged in the chase, the ardour of this bird is so great, that all its faculties seem 

 to be absorbed in the gratification of the ruling passion, and it is evidently unmindful of 

 anything but its flying prey. A Sparrow Hawk has even been known to dash furiously 

 at a man who endeavoured to rescue a small bird which it had attacked. 



The courage of the Sparrow Hawk is of the most reckless character, for the bird 

 will fly unhesitatingly at almost any other inhabitant of air, no matter what* its size 

 may be. Mr. Thompson relates the following curious instance of the exceeding audacity 

 of this bird. 



" Once, at the end of July, when walking along the sides of the river Lagan, near 

 Belfast, I was attracted by the loud screams of herons, which appeared above the 

 trees at the north-west extremity of Belvoir Park. A couple of these giants of the 

 air kept flying above the tops of the trees with tremendous uproar, in consequence 

 of the presence of a single Sparrow Hawk. This bird was circling about, and the herons 

 awkwardly and quite unavailingly endeavouring to strike him. Flying quite at ease, his 

 turns were so short, and at the same time so full of grace, that he seemed to laugh 

 to scorn their heavy, lumbering movements. 



