30 



bluish white with a few faint reddish spots, to dull white so heavily blotched with chestnut-red 

 that the ground-colour is only visible on about half the surface of the egg. In size they vary 

 from 1^ by 1^ to Iff by 1^§ inch. Dr. E. Rey tells us that the average size of fifty-seven eggs 

 from Anhalt and Westphalia is 39 - 8 by 32'4, the largest measuring 41-0 by 34-5, and the smallest 

 37-0 by 31-25 millimetres respectively. Fresh eggs were obtained from the 10th to the 30th of 

 May; and the normal number appears to be four to five. We have already referred to Mr. Brooke's 

 finding six young birds on one occasion ; and Mr. Collett confirms, in a letter, the fact of their 

 sometimes laying six eggs. He adds : — " If all but one are taken it will lay more. Sometimes 

 its eggs are so light-coloured as to be almost unspotted, only being known by their greenish 

 tinge." Hewitson's notes on the nesting are as follows : — " The Sparrow-Hawk, although one of 

 our commonest birds of prey, is not nearly so numerous as the Kestrel. Its eggs may sometimes 

 be found upon the ledge of some lofty cliff, but are much more frequently to be met with in 

 trees, for the most part occupying the usurped nest of a Crow or Magpie — sometimes, it would 

 appear, however, in a nest of its own construction. Mr. Selby says that it occasionally makes its 

 own nest in low trees or thorn bushes — that it is flat and shallow, and very similar to that of the 

 Ring-dove, but rather larger, and is composed of slender twigs." 



The estimates of the capabilities of the Sparrow-Hawk for the purpose of falconry vary 

 much. Thus Dr. Jerdon, in his ' Birds of India,' says : — " It is very highly prized by the natives 

 for falconry, being very speedy, and is used to capture Partridges, Quails, Courier Plovers 

 (Cursorius), and even Rock-Pigeons (Pterocles)." In Mr. Hume's 'Rough Notes' (i. p. 125) 

 occurs the following passage: — "As regards the Sparrow-Hawk commonly flown by native 

 falconers (whether the present species or A. melaschistus I cannot say), Mr. R. Thompson writes 

 as follows : — ' Though a highly prized bird by the natives for its speed and courage, it does not 

 really come up to the Besra (Accipiter virgatus) even for courage ; its powers of endurance are 

 much less ; and it is less easily reclaimed. Many birds appear regularly at Nynee Tal every year 

 about October. I have had several specimens alive, sent in to me from the interior, where they 

 have been caught in traps set for the Goshawk, having readily flown at the live-Pigeon bait. It 

 is a delicate and difficult bird to keep, and with all its boasted speed is but second to the Besra 

 for every kind of hard field- or wood-work. What the Besra would do at the first throw, the 

 other could not do till the quarry was exhausted. To hunt with the Basha requires a deal of 

 tact. You must not throw it whilst the wind is high ; you must keep well within the proximity 

 of woods and trees, and not baulk it with birds larger than it can afford to strike and clutch.' " 

 Then Mr. Hume adds : — " One thing is to be said : the native falconers generally overdo the 

 training of this bird and make it too delicate. Probably if more hardily reared and trained it 

 would do better and turn out as tough and useful in its way as its larger relative, the Goshawk." 



An excellent account of the training of the Sparrow-Hawk for the noble art is given in 

 Messrs. Salvin and Brodrick's 'Falconry in the British Isles' (p. Ill); and although we cannot 

 give the whole of the description in detail, the rarity of the work in question, and the excellence 

 of the essay, induce us to lay before our readers the following extract : — " As nestling Sparrow- 

 Hawks are inclined to scramble out of their basket, and wander away before they can at all fly, 

 there is considerable danger of some of them being lost in long grass or destroyed by cats or 

 weasels, both of which animals we have known to carry them off whilst young and helpless. 



