110 ACCIPITRES. 



Sparrow-hawks, from their general distribution, their 

 daring, and the voracity of their young, kill a vast number 

 of birds, probably more than any other birds of prey; and 

 these not merely little birds, but birds of large size and 

 powerful wing, such as the lapwing, the snipe, and the 

 pigeon. While the gos-hawk keeps to the large and lonely 

 wood, the sparrow-hawk is the plunderer of the coppice, the 

 hedge-row, and the corn-field ; and it is more incessantly on 

 the wing than any other bird of prey, and perhaps strikes 

 more forcibly in proportion to its size and weight. 



Both species of hawks are very indiscriminate in their 

 slaughtering, and do not, it is said, spare even the weaker 

 ones of their own species ; for that reason, it is difficult to 

 rear males and females in the same cage, as the latter are 

 very apt to kill and eat the former. 



The hawks resemble the falcons in many of their cha- 

 racters, and also in generally pouncing upon their prey on 

 the wing ; but they differ in their lower flight, their shorter 

 and rounder wings, their bill not curving so sharply at the 

 base, and being without the prominent tooth of the falcons. 

 They differ little in activity, or if they do, the hawks are 

 probably on the whole more active than the falcons. 



There are two other divisions of rapacious birds, which 

 agree with each other in their very low flight, and in striking 

 their prey upon the ground, but differ essentially in many 

 parts of their characters. These are Harriers and Buzzards. 



HARRIERS. 



The harriers are birds of considerable size, power, and 

 extent of wing, very indefatigable in their hunting, and 

 highly destructive of the feathered tribes, and also of rabbits. 

 They have not the grandeur of the falcons, neither have they 

 quite the vigour of the hawks; and they are not so power- 

 fully armed as either of these. Their beaks and feet are 



