VOL. xiv.] NOTES. 19 



Magpies, Sparrow-Hawks and Kestrels. Thirty years ago 

 one could not take a walk across our fields in spring and 

 summer without seeing Kestrels hovering over the meadows 

 and grasslands. During the first ten or twelve years of 

 this century the Kestrel became a rare bird, comparatively. 

 In some of those years I did not see in the aggregate half 

 a dozen distinct examples of the species. Magpies have 

 increased enormously, from being somewhat rare they now 

 abound. As an index to their numbers, I may mention that 

 a neighbour, Mr. William de Winton, of Southover Hall, 

 informed me that on one day of the past autumn over sixty 

 were counted at one time on a field of new sown oats, not 

 far from the Hall. Sparrow-Hawks have multiplied, and this 

 increase has been accompanied by their greater boldness and 

 rapacity. I take a neighbouring manor of about 1,000 acres 

 in extent, with a fair stock of Partridges, as an example, 

 and on which there is a reliable and efficient gamekeeper, 

 who gives me the following details, which in several cases 

 I have verified by handling the trapped birds. He tells me 

 that in an experience of thirty years he does not remember 

 that he ever had a dozen Partridges taken on the wing by 

 Sparrow-Hawks prior to 1918. Last year (1919) he and his 

 assistant found the bodies of at least twenty-five mature 

 Partridges, besides Wood-Pigeons, which had been struck 

 down and partially eaten by these birds. By setting traps 

 round the partially-devoured prey, he secured over twenty 

 Sparrow-Hawks, only two of which were males. So far this 

 year (1920) he has found six Partridges killed and caught 

 five female Sparrow-Hawks by trapping. My informant 

 mentions that a few days ago, whilst taking his rounds, a 

 Partridge pursued b}^ a female Sparrow-Hawk flew into a 

 hedge near by, and he just managed in time to put out the 

 Hawk and save the life of the Partridge. Macgillivray 

 {B.B., Vol. 3, p. 354) remarks, on the authority of Mr. Weir, 

 as to the difficulty of decoying a Sparrow-Hawk into a trap. 

 This does not seem to be the case in the Weald of Sussex 

 at the present time. The gamekeeper who gives me his 

 figures, suggests that the boldness of these birds is due to the 

 decrease of Blackbirds and Thrushes, with other small birds, 

 which took place in the fatal winter of 1916-17 and from which 

 the countryside has not yet recovered ; but I think it is more 

 likely due to the increase of the Hawks and, consequently, 

 the greater competition in procuring food. It will be of 

 interest to observe in the future, whether the reduction in the 

 number of Sparrow-Hawks, which would follow a resumption 



