THE SPARRO W-HA WK 473 



and rabbits are taken by the goshawk at a head- 

 long, dashing flight into covert, just as they are 

 dwelling- for a second before entering it. At other 

 times they will break away and be retaken. A rabbit 

 may be captured by the hawk at the very mouth of the 

 hole, the hawk holding on with one foot to its prey, 

 and pressing the other on the ground, its tail and wings 

 being expanded in order to avoid being dragged in 

 with the rabbit. 



The Sparrow- Hawk. 



This bird is perhaps the boldest of all hawks. I 

 have, in Italy, killed as many as twenty couple of quail 

 in one day with one female sparrow-hawk. She was 

 a wild bird, which, with the assistance of a Syrian 

 falconer, I trained in a fortnight. 



As is well known, the sparrow-hawk will dart through 

 a window after its quarry. Once, when ferreting 

 rabbits near to a bridge of some four feet in width, 

 built over a small drain, and leading to a gateway, 

 whilst I was standing on the bridge, a male sparrow- 

 hawk dashed after a linnet through the arch just 

 under my feet, and killed it in a ditch about a hundred 

 yards further on. 



The sparrow-hawk should be trained from the 

 wrist, and when fit to fly it may be flown from the 

 hand, or thrown, as in India, at the quarry. When 

 thrown, the motion is similar to overhand bowling 

 at cricket. I killed the quail to which I referred in 

 this manner. 



In order to thus throw a hawk it must be carried, 

 on the right wrist, and when it is to be thrown it is 



