Nip, the Young Sparrow Hawk 227 



then to the top of the high door, and for the remainder of his stay with us, 

 this was his perch. During the day, he kept to the outside, but as evening 

 approached, he settled near the wall. We never caught him napping; steal 

 down stairs ever so quietly after dusk had fallen, we always found him awake 

 and alert. 



During this time, his tail grew a full inch and he began to show signs of 

 restlessness. It was plain that he wanted more space, so, on the morning of 

 July 25, nine days after he came into our possession, we took him to the roof, 

 hoping that we could feed him there until he was able to care for himself. 



From the vantage-ground of a chimney, Nip looked at the great world 

 beneath and the great sky above, where even then his parents were sailing, 

 and a wonderful change came over him. For a moment he stood poised with 

 outspread wings, in true Hawk fashion, and we who had been so necessary to 

 his existence and had flattered ourselves that he had repaid us in affection, 

 realized that we were no longer either necessary or desirable to him. The wild 

 nature reasserted itself, and a barrier, intangible but very real, was drawn 

 between us and him. Sadly we left him and went down to the humdrum of 

 civilized life. 



An hour later, from the street, we saw him launch forth into the world. 

 Slowly, but straight, he flew over a tree and out of sight, and we thought never 

 to see him again, but, lo, next morning, he was perched on a neighboring chimney, 

 and a series of insistent insect-like notes was traced to him and found to be 

 his hunger-cry, for soon one of the old birds brought breakfast. And for three 

 weeks after his liberation, the following program was daily carried out. Between 

 Q and 10 o'clock we would hear a clamor from the English Sparrows, and, on 

 looking out, would see Nip on some chimney or coping and hear his hunger- 

 cry. After a time, sometimes soon, an old bird would dash into view, quickly 

 give Nip the quarry, and then from some chimney or the steeple, keep guard 

 while he regaled himself. Usually he was fed again about 5 in the afternoon, 

 but sometimes, either for the sake of discipline or from ill-luck in hunting, he 

 went to bed supperless. We could not often see what the prey was, but once 

 we distinctly saw that it was a full-grown Sparrow. 



The last time we saw him fed was on August 13, when, from the screaming 

 of the poor victim, we knew he had been entrusted with a live bird. Next day 

 Nip sat and called a long time but no parent appeared, and we concluded that 

 he had been thrown on his own resources. We never saw him perch on a chim- 

 ney again, but until well into December, we occasionally got a glimpse of a 

 Sparrow Hawk flying over the roofs and we noticed a decrease in the number 

 of Sparrow pests. 



