226 



Bird - Lore 



though he would sit for hours at a time on the perch, he would leave it readily . 

 if a finger were offered instead, and invited attention by cocking his head on 

 one side and opening his bill; raise a finger and he would nip it gently, and once 

 he climbed on a shoulder and nipped an ear. Altogether one could not wish for 

 a dearer or more interesting pet than was Nip during this time. Indeed so 

 gentle and friendly did he seem, that we had visions of a semi-domesticated 

 Sparrow Hawk who would make our neighborhood his home and keep it free 



of English Sparrows. 



Then he was so pretty, with 

 his crown of rufous, tipped with 

 gray, giving a changeable effect; 

 his soft buffy throat and cheeks 

 of the same hue, outlined by 

 black hnes; his buffy under- 

 parts, streaked with brown on 

 the breast; and his barred back 

 and tail; but the 'eyes' on the 

 inner web of the primaries which 

 in the folded wing formed bars, 

 were the most wonderful thing 

 about his coloring. 



After the first day, when he 

 fed many times, he never ate 

 over an ounce of beef a day. 

 We fed him about 8 o'clock in 

 the morning and 5 in the after- 

 noon. He always made a good 

 l^reakfast, but sometimes re- 

 fused supper altogether. He 

 showed a decided preference for 

 very fresh meat. He ate daintily 

 and never gourmandized. He 

 seemed to like water but not to know how to drink; so we sometimes dipped 

 his meat in water. He would not bathe. 



On the fourth day he made his first flight, a distance of about 6 feet, and 

 repeated it several times. Toward evening, being taken to the yard, he flew 

 to the fence, and then across the next yard, but readily submitted to capture. 

 Two days later, the door having been left open, he flew to a line in the kitchen, 

 and from that to the top of an open door, the highest in the room. Taken 

 back to his quarters and the door shut, he flew against it so persistently that 

 he ruffled his tail. Later, when he had achieved liberty, this ruffled tail served 

 as a mark of identification. Fearing that he might injure himself severely, we 

 opened the door, when he immediately repeated his flight, first to the line, and 



'NIP, THE TAME SPARROW HAWK 

 Photographed by Dr. E. W. Victor 



