108 A GAMEKEEPER'S NOTE-BOOK 



the fledged young may be distinguished readily 

 by the white spot on the lower part of the back of 

 the sparrow-hawk's head. Each bird has a fatal 

 way of coming to investigate the sound of a gunshot. 

 If a shot is fired in the direction of a hawk flying 

 far out of range, say a hundred yards distant, it will 

 instantly dart down and towards the gunner, nearly 

 always within easy range. We have seen this happen 

 many times. 



Like the kestrel, the sparrow-hawk is content with 

 a slovenly nest, which it builds of dead twigs on 



the ruins of other nests usually those of 

 Nest magpies, crows, or pigeons. Or it uses a 

 Young squirrel's drey as a foundation, or comes 



year after year to its own old home. Usually 

 the chosen site is not very high in a tree larches 

 and oaks are favourites and the nest will be found 

 near the trunk : in short oaks it may be in the cup 

 formed where several branches spread away. We 

 have found a nest within ten feet of the ground. 

 The nest, when you climb to it, is much larger than 

 it appears from below, and only a man with long 

 arms could encircle it. There may be five eggs, 

 pale white, blotched with dark chestnut-brown, the 

 markings of eggs in one clutch sometimes showing a 

 beautiful variation, while the markings of the clutches 

 of different birds differ considerably. The shells, 

 like those of the kestrel's eggs, are very thick even 



