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THE SPARROW-HAWK. 

 (Accipiter nisus.) 



THOUGH the Sparrow-hawk, taken altogether, is a small 

 bird, yet he is. a great thief, as may be gathered from 

 his piercing eye. He is the terror of all birds of the 

 Starling size, which he seizes while on the wing. Like a 

 true robber, he watches for his booty in a secret kind of 

 way ; having selected one from among a company of 

 flying birds, he flies below, among the furrows in the 

 cornfield, along the hedges, and the border of the woods, 

 and on to a haystack. When he has seen his destined 

 prey he flutters sideways, rises into the air in circles, 

 and when the little birds fly up he sinks somewhat lower ; 

 when at the proper height he claps his wings close to his 

 body, and drops like a piece of lead on to the chosen, 

 fluttering victim, seizes it by the neck in its flight, and 

 strangles it with his sharp claws. He then flies slowly 

 with it to a bush or a grassy-mound and devours it. 



It winters in Hungary ; it is not rare, but at the same 

 time not very common. Its cry sounds like " Kirk, 

 kirk, kirk," or a rapid " ki, ki, ki," or a long drawn-out 

 " kak, kdk." 



This bird was the sporting Hawk of our forefathers, 

 and the people of the interior of Asia, and the Kurds, 

 employ it for hunting at the present day. Wherever it 

 goes it carries devastation in its train, especially among 

 the domestic fowls. Its cry is loud and protracted. 

 "livid!" it repeats quickly on seizing its prey. When 



