

NEST AND YOUNG 109 



the hawk's sharp claws would hardly puncture them 

 without intentional effort. 



Should you hear a soft whistling in a wood not 

 unlike the whistling of the farmer's wife when she 

 calls her chickens to meats, but much subdued 

 you may know there is a sparrow-hawk's nest not 

 far away. A glimpse of the whistler gives rise to a 

 general alarm-cry among blackbirds. If the whistling 

 leads to the discovery of young hawks, on your 

 approach they will assume attitudes suggestive of 

 disgust and resentment. In their poses and markings 

 there is something owl-like about young hawks : 

 and, as with young owls, there is a good deal of 

 difference in the size of the fledglings, and in the 

 state of their feathering. The strongest young one 

 has the pick of the food, and quickly outgrows his 

 brothers and sisters. Should the mother bird be 

 killed, the cock will rear the family unaided on the 

 small birds on which they thrive. The preservation 

 of woods has meant a steady increase in the hosts of 

 small birds, and hawks in consequence are under no 

 necessity to prey on game-birds. Some sparrow- 

 hawks will acquire the game-feeding habit : others 

 will pounce by chance on a small game-bird ; but 

 sparrow-hawks are in no way dependent on game, 

 living for the most part on finches and the like, 

 thereby helping to preserve the balance of scales 

 of which the gamekeeper and his master take little 

 heed. 



