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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



whit less fierce and bloodthirsty is she, 

 and the blackbird or starling that has put 

 into a hedgerow or thicket has small 

 chance of eluding the cold eye that is 

 quietly watching from some near-by 

 perch for the first stir. 



The sparrowhawk has many enthusi- 

 astic supporters, and for many reasons is 

 the best fitted for the amateur falconer, 

 as these birds are not costly and small 

 loss attends failure. They may be used 

 on almost all small game and brush birds, 

 and have been used with success on par- 

 tridge. In England, however, the spar- 

 rowhawk is used chiefly on blackbirds 

 and starlings, and while it is in a way 

 small sport, the ingenuit)^ of the quarry 

 and the catlike agility of the little hawk 

 give spice to the chase. 



Here, even the tin)- male or "muskett" 

 is of use. The chase is over if the hawk 

 makes a true strike ; but the quarry is re- 

 sourceful and nimble and it is frequently 

 very difficult to make the pursued bird 

 fly if it has once succeeded in reaching 

 cover. 



I once saw close at hand the tactics of 

 a house-sparrow, which flew chattering 

 within a few inches of my head, hotly 

 pursued by a male sharp-shin, the Amer- 

 ican miniature of the sparrowhawk. 

 The sparrow flew directly into the densest 

 tvviggery of an old lilac clump, and there 

 continued to flutter and chatter. Almost 

 instantly the hawk, wings and tail thrown 

 back and lean, sharp talons extended, 

 struck the bush with a thwack, trying to 

 drive through to the terrified (but still 

 resourceful) sparrow. Failing, the hawk, 

 entirely ignoring me, turned back again 



on its course, flew past me to a distance 

 of perhaps a hundred feet, wheeled, and 

 again drove at the bush as if thrown from 

 a catapult. 



This occurred four times in rapid suc- 

 cession before the hawk decided it was 

 of no use and continued on its way philo- 

 sophically. After a very short time the 

 sparrow, too, resumed its normal state of 

 mind and joined a group of others in the 

 road near by. 



From the foregoing it will be seen that 

 falconry had its rise through man's early 

 necessity, in man's birthplace, central 

 Asia, where it has thrived almost with- 

 out interruption ever since ; that later it 

 became the sport of the more privileged 

 classes, attained a high pitch of popu- 

 larity in medieval times, and has since 

 fallen, as the result of many contributing 

 causes, to a point where it is costly and 

 extremely difficult to maintain. 



It is not too much to suppose, however, 

 that there will always be those who have 

 the means and the desire to keep alive 

 one of the most beautiful and romantic 

 sports that man has ever devised. For- 

 tunately, there is plenty of colorful liter- 

 ature on the subject from the days of 

 chivalry and there are several practical 

 books by later-day devotees of the art. 



It is, perhaps, not too much to venture 

 the belief that now, after the war that 

 has so completely occupied the minds and 

 lives of the civilized world is over, we 

 shall swing back to some of the less seri- 

 ous pursuits that we formerly enjoyed, 

 and that among these falconry may un- 

 dergo a real revival. 



AMERICAN BIRDS OF PREY— A REVIEW OF 

 THEIR VALUE 



IT IS not always easy to cast up an 

 exact balance to show at a glance just 

 what value we should attach to any 

 given bird or animal, and the difficulty 

 becomes much greater as the element of 

 prejudice or chance personal observation 

 complicates the verdict which dispassion- 

 ate research determines for any given 

 species. 



The prejudice against all birds of prey 

 is so general that it is well nigh impossi- 

 ble to convince any one who has once 



seen a hawk steal a chicken that only a 

 few kinds have this habit, and that all 

 the rest deserve the most careful protec- 

 tion. This fact has been admirably set 

 forth, however, in that now rare work, 

 published in 1893 by the Bureau of 

 Biological Survey, Dr. A. K. Fisher's 

 "Flawks and Owls of the United States." 

 Much of the specific information in the 

 present article has been drawn from that 

 authoritative source. 



For many years the field agents of the 



