THE SPARROW HAWK 11 



weeks. The female when sitting is at first shy, but soon 

 becomes more assiduous in her task. The male takes no 

 part iii the hatching" ; but both birds are very attentive to 

 the requirements of their brood. 



In the matter of food the Sparrow Hawk has a very 

 wide range, and captures nearly all the smaller, and some 

 of the larger, birds of the country pigeons, partridges, 

 chickens, ducklings, snipe, blackbirds, thrushes, larks, 

 linnets, sparrows, lapwings, buntings, &c., being amongst 

 its most ordinary prey. What has been said above respect- 

 ing its food requirements, will sufficiently show the havoc 

 which even one pair of birds may make in either a chicken- 

 yard or game-preserve, and amply accounts for the rooted 

 hostility of farmer and gamekeeper alike. Yet it may be 

 doubted whether the farmer is not amply repaid for his 

 chicken losses in the more ample destruction wrought 

 amongst the smaller birds. 



Cultivated wooded districts are the favourite resorts of 

 this bird ; but it also frequents open fields, and may be 

 commonly met with in all parts of the country. 



The males and females separate in the winter, the latter 

 still contenting themselves in woods and the neighbour- 

 hood of the farmyard, and the former following the flocks 

 of small birds which at this time of the year betake them- 

 selves to the coast. A distinctive feature of this species 

 of Hawk is the superior size of the female, and the bold- 

 ness and ferocity of her disposition. The male bird is 

 about twelve inches long ; the top of the head and upper 

 part of the body and wings are of a dark brown colour, 

 which assumes a greyish tint as the bird becomes older ; 

 the under parts are reddish-brown marked with narrow 

 bands of a darker hue; the legs and toes yellow, and claws 



