VERMIN AND TRAPPING 99 



It is the habit of young sparrow-hawks at this age to 

 mew for food precisely like kittens in sore distress. 



Here is an instance of the thoughtless killing of 

 a hawk by a keeper. I was walking with an old 

 keeper through one of his woods, and he was just 

 telling me how his pheasants had been entirely free 

 from attack by hawks, when I caught sight of that 

 lime- washing which tells the story of a hawk's brood 

 above. I volunteered to climb a tall larch, three- 

 quarters of the way up which was the nest. No 

 sooner had I started to admire half a dozen young 

 kestrels than bang! went the old fellow's gun at a 

 parent hawk swooping round my head. Fortunately, 

 only the hawk was bagged. 



Neither shall I forget the first wounded sparrow- 

 hawk which I handled, and I warn the inexperienced 

 to be careful. It was a large female, and she was 

 only winged. She struck her talons, each most 

 horribly sharp and long, into my fingers, so that the 

 more I tried to free them the worse it was. I will 

 not try to remember how eventually I got them free 

 of that terrible grip. But I have much pleasure 

 in recording that a sign of a game-bird was most 

 exceptional among the hosts of bird- victims brought 

 to the hawk nestlings on my ground ; nor do I 

 think it can be proved that either sparrow-hawks 

 or kestrels collectively take tribute of game for a 

 tithe of the year's food. 



Hedgehogs are far more numerous, and do far 



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