THE SPAKROW-HAWK. 121 



old birds without success ; at length, one moonlight 

 night I found the tree, and sat under it till morning : 

 just before daybreak the old bird came to the nest, and 

 I shot it. This is the plan I would always adopt if I 

 wanted to shoot an eagle at nest ; for it is almost impos- 

 sible to approach the nest by day without being seen bj 

 the old birds. The cry of this bird is a loud hoarse 

 scream. 



The JPeregrine Falcon was common on our plains iu 

 autumn, but I do not fancy they bred in our district ; it 

 exactly resembled the British peregrine in size, habits, 

 and appearance, and seemed to be precisely the same 

 bird : the eye was dark. 



The Hobby was also common in the autumn ; I gene- 

 rally found it in thicker timber than the other hawks, 

 and I think its principal prey was pigeons ; it very much 

 resembled its British namesake in appearance, but seemed 

 to be a little larger : the eye was light hazel. 



"We had a smaller variety, which we called the Merlin, 

 but it was not much like the merlin of Europe ; it was 

 common on the plains and in the low scrub during the 

 small-game season. 



The Australian Sjjarroiv-hawJc is about as large as its 

 European namesake, which it much resembles : it was 

 common with us throughout the autumn: the eye was 

 light yellow. 



"We had an elegant little falcon, not unlike the sparrow- 

 hawk in appearance, but nearly double the size, and much 

 prettier ; we called it the Blue Falcon : the head and 



