FALCONIDA. 333 
THE SPARROW-HAWK. 
AccfriTer nfsus (Linneus). 
The Sparrow-Hawk is generally distributed in Great Britain and 
also in Ireland, wherever there are woodlands suited to its tastes. 
It is emphatically an arboreal species, and is, naturally, of rare 
occurrence in the Orkneys, Shetlands, and Outer Hebrides, where 
the long-winged Kestrel often bears the name—as elsewhere it 
suffers for the delinquencies—of this dashing short-winged species. 
In autumn the Sparrow-Hawk is frequently observed at our light- 
ships and stations on the east coast ; and large numbers sometimes 
cross Heligoland on their way from higher latitudes—the young 
passing first, and the adults following. The breeding-range extends 
northward to the limits of forest-growth, and southward to the 
Mediterranean ; comparatively few birds, however, remain to nest in 
Spain or Italy, where this species is chiefly noticed on passage, when 
following the flocks of small birds on which it preys. It occurs in 
Madeira, the Canaries, North Africa, and Egypt as far up the Nile 
as Assouan, and migrates to Kordofan. In Asia it is found across 
Siberia to Kamchatka and Japan, and breeds, sparingly, down to 
Kashmir and the Himalayas, while in winter its range extends to 
the latitude of Canton. There are many other members of this 
genus, possessing a well-defined geographical range; but the 
