168 BRITISH BIUDS. [vol. xiv. 



THE SPARROW-HAWK OF THE OLD WRITERS. 

 To the Editors of British Birds. 



Sjks, — Mr. J. E. Harting, whose acquaintance with the htcrature 

 of falconry is much' greater than mine, does not agree with the view 

 expressed in a footnote to Dr. Ticehurst's paper {antea, p. 84), viz., 

 that the Sparrow-Hawk of the old writers was often really a Goshawk 

 {A. gentilis). 



How far the two birds were mixed up together in the minds of the 

 falconers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries is now very 

 difficult to determine, but one would hardly think so much care would 

 have been bestowed on the small Sparrow-Hawk, when a better bird 

 was obtainable. It has also to be remembered that modern falconers 

 have found the Sparrow-Hawk of very little use for Partridges — a female 

 in condition could manage young ones in August or September, but 

 hardly be capable of taking old Partridges, or of catching full-grown 

 rabbits. That the Croshawk was the bird which was commonly 

 used to fill the larder of large country houses like that of Le Strange, 

 at Hunstanton, in Norfolk, in the sixteenth century, before guns had 

 come in, is pretty clear. J. H. Gurney. 



Keswick Hall, Norfolk. 



REV'S WORK ON THE CUCKOO. ■ 



To the Editors of British Birds. 



Sirs, — In working up my observations on the Cuckoo, of which 

 you have already published a preliminary note {antea, p. 71), I have 

 been studying what has been previously published concerning the 

 breeding-habits of the bird. 



It will be agreed, I think, that Dr. Eugene Key's book Old and 

 New Information Concerning the Domestic Economy of the Cuckoo. 

 is incomparably the most thorough work on the subject ; but the 

 book is in German, and so far as I know no English translation has 

 been published. Several friends having expressed a wish to possess a 

 translation, it has occurred to me that probably many other English 

 ornithologists would also like one. I have therefore arranged to 

 have the work (which consists of over 100 printed pages and charts) 

 translated and a number of copies multigraphed from typewritten 

 copy on foolscap paper. The translation will be certified as being 

 accurate. The price of a single copy of the translation has been fixed 

 at £2, but each subscriber may exercise the right to purchase an 

 additional copy at £1. 



I need hardly say that I intend to make no profit out of the work ; 

 but as there will be comparatively few copies available, may I ask 

 those of your readers who desire copies to write to me at once, stating 

 whether one or two copies are required and enclosing a cheque, so that 

 correspondence may be minimized. The work will then be posted 

 immediately it is completed, which should be before the end of the j^ear. 



Edgar Chance. 

 9, Hay Hill, Berkeley Square, W.i. 



