"Directly young Sparrow Hanks see their mother approaching . . . they sit up 



in the nest." 



THE SPARROW HAWK 



T 



HIS species breeds in well- 

 wooded districts through- 

 out the British Isles. At 

 one time it was thought by 

 naturalists whose opinion 

 was entitled to a great 

 deal of respect that it 

 never built its own nest, 

 but simply contented itself with the 

 old home of a carrion crow or wood- 

 pigeon. I have always thought other- 

 wise, and some years ago not only 

 watched a hen Sparrow Hawk adding 

 sticks to her nest, but photographed 

 her in the act of doing so, as shown 

 on the next page. The structure is a 

 mere platform of twigs with a slight hol- 

 low in the centre, and as incubation ad- 

 vances the sticks become flecked with bits 

 of white down from the bird's body ; but 

 whether these are an intentional adorn- 

 ment, or simply drop out by accident 



whilst she is preening herself, it is im- 

 possible to say. The nest may sometimes 

 be found thirty or forty feet from the 

 ground, and at others can be touched with 

 a walking-stick in the hand of a man of 

 average height standing beneath it. On 

 one occasion I found a nest in a holly bush. 



The eggs number from four to six, 

 five being a usual clutch. In ground 

 colour they are white tinged with blue 

 or bluish green, and are handsomely 

 marked with pale and rich dark brown 

 spots and blotches. 



The male Sparrow Hawk is somewhat 

 smaller than the female. He provides 

 food for her whilst she is sitting, but never 

 brings any kind of prey to the nest. 

 I have watched him fetch a full-grown 

 peewit along in his talons, alight with it 

 on some dead tree stump fifty or sixty 

 yards away, call her, and, whilst she was 

 enjoying a meal, fly down to the nest 



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