238 CLASS AVES. 



trees. Sometimes, however, entire families are met with, 

 hunting together. But such assemblages only take place dur- 

 ino-the early age of the brood, while the parents are instructing 

 them in the exercise necessary to procure subsistence : a 

 proof that there is a natural education among animals, and 

 that all is not instinct. 



During a considerable portion of the year, the hawks and 

 goshawks remain in the forests, where they build in the largest 

 trees a nest, in which the female lays usually four or five eggs. 

 Lewin says, that these nests are sometimes constructed in 

 ancient ruins, or on rugged rocks. 



The Common Hawk is found in almost all parts of the world. 

 Ksempfer has seen it in Japan, and M. Poiret in Barbary. In 

 Egypt it comes into the towns, and is a sacred bird. Mau- 

 duit has found it at Cayenne, and D'Azara in Paraguay. Its 

 usual food consists of moles, mice, thrushes, larks, quails, and 

 other small birds. It also eats lizards and snails. Though 

 many hawks remain constantly in Europe, others traverse the 

 seas to pass the winter in milder climates. The mariners of 

 the Mediterranean call them corsairs, as, during their voyages, 

 they prey on all the weaker species they can find. Notwith- 

 standing their boldness and intrepidity, they are easily, as we 

 have already seen, rendered docile for the purposes of fal- 

 conry, and were employed in hunting thrushes, quails, and 

 partridges. They are termed royal when they have under- 

 gone their training. The voracity of these birds renders them 

 easy to be caught, and they are taken in such snares as are 

 usually set for sparrows. Belon was witness to the catching of 

 these birds near the Strait of the Propontis. A fowler con- 

 cealed behind a bush took a dozen of them per hour, without 

 any other artifice than causing small birds to flutter about, 

 attached to a cord under suspended nets, into which the im- 

 prudent hawk precipitated itself impetuously. 



We insert here another figure from the magnificent collec- 

 tion of Prince Maximilian. It is nearly allied to the Acoli of 



