86 AUDACITY OF THE SPARROW HAWK. 



The herons' savage cries were apparently (evidently might almost be said) caused 

 by the Hawk's make-believe attempts to carry off their young, as they were particularly 

 violent and vociferous whenever he made a swoop as I remarked him to do thrice 

 at the top of a particular tree. It seemed a mere play or bravado on the part of the 

 Hawk, as he could easily, in spite of the herons, have borne off the contents of the nest 

 any time, were the prey not too bulky for his purpose. Mr. R. Langton has not only 

 observed a wild Sparrow Hawk strike his sea-eagles when perching on their sheds, but 

 when his golden eagle was on the wing, has seen one of these birds strike it in passing, and 

 once even witnessed the Hawk's turning back and repeating the impertinence." 



The same author also mentions several instances of the extreme audacity of the 

 Sparrow Hawk when urged by hunger. One of these birds actually snatched up a little 

 white pea-chick, selecting it from the rest of the brood, while a lady was engaged 

 in feeding it. A similar circumstance occurred to a gamekeeper who was feeding young 

 pheasants, a Sparrow Hawk suddenly sweeping down upon them and carrying off one of 

 their number. Next day it repeated the attempt, but as the keeper had taken the 

 precaution to bring his gun, the Hawk fell a victim to his own temerity. Again, as some 

 persons were shooting dunlins from a boat, in Belfast Bay, a Sparrow. Hawk suddenly shot 

 through the smoke of the discharged gun, and poising itself for an instant, swept a wounded 

 dunlin from the surface of the water with such marvellous dexterity, that it did not wet a 

 leather of its wings. 



In consequence of the headlong courage possessed by this handsome little Hawk, it is 

 very valuable to the falconer if properly trained, for it will dash at any quarry which 

 may be pointed out to it. Unfortunately, however, the Sparrow Hawk is one of the most 

 difficult and refractory of piipils, being shy to a singular degree, slow at receiving a lesson 

 acd quick at forgetting it. Besides, its temper is of a very crabbed and uncertain nature, 

 and it is so quarrelsome, that if several of these birds should be fastened to the same 

 perch, or placed in the same cage, they will certainly fight each other, and, in all 

 probability, the conqueror will eat his vanquished foe. Such an event has actually 

 occurred, the victrix for it was a female killing and devouring her intended spouse. 



Few birds are so easily startled as the Sparrow Hawk, for even when it is comparatively 

 tame, the presence of a stranger, or even the shadow of a passing bird in the air, will throw 

 it into a paroxysm of excitement, during which it seems to lose all consciousness of 

 external objects. This curious trait of character a practical falconer, in a communication 

 addressed to the Field newspaper, describes most graphically in the following terms. 

 " The young falconer will naturally be disappointed to find the bird which came so well 

 to hand yesterday, now on the first day of its being carried, stare wildly with its mad 

 eyes, and bate violently. It will probably hang down at the end of the jesses and swivel, 

 and dart off again the moment it is quietly replaced. More than this, the very power of 

 standing will appear to have left it ; the claws will be clenched and distorted ; the whole 

 creature will be changed ; instead of a tolerably bold and very handsome bird, the 

 transition of a few minutes will present you with a terrified, crouching, vicious, abject 

 wretch ; a horrible mixture of fright and feathers. 



Some people think that the helpless look of the feet and legs arises only from 

 temper, and that it is a sham. It may arise from temper, but it is not a sham. It appears 

 to me that this bird's brain is overcharged with electricity or something fearfully subtle ; 

 and that en the smallest provocation, these fluids shoot through the whole frame, over- 

 turning and decaying everything that is healthy and regular. The Sparrow Hawk's legs 

 are, during these fits of fright and passion, in a temporary paralysis. Still, they are 

 of short duration, and when the bird is trained, they pass away altogether." The same 

 writer sums up the character of the Sparrow Hawk as a pupil in the following energetic 

 language : " The Sparrow Hawk is, in my opinion, the wildest, in some sense the most 

 intractable, the most ungrateful, the most provoking and temper-trying of all birds 

 or beasts that ever were taken under the care of man from the beginning of the world." 



With this writer's opinion my own experience to a very great measure coincides, 

 though as I never attempted to train a Sparrow Hawk to falconry, I cannot answer 

 for some of its deficiencies. 



