HAWKS AND HAWK-LIKE BIRDS, 157 



of the Kestrel, or Windhover, as this bird is some- 

 times called. 



SPARROW-HAWK— Of about the same size as the Kestrel, 

 but darker above and white below, barred with fine, 

 dark, transverse bars ; tail with four or five bars ; 

 wings blunter and shorter. A bird of the woodside. 



SPARROW-HAWK, — Plate 72. Male: length, 

 13 inches. Upper parts dark slaty-blue, with slight 

 white mottling on the nape ; larger wing-feathers and 

 tail browner; under parts ruddy-white, barred with 

 close, transverse, dark bars ; under sides of wings 

 whitish, with dark spots and bars all over ; under 

 tail-coverts clear white ; under sides of tail-feathers 

 whitish, with four equidistant dark bars. Female: 

 15 J inches. Grayer generally, brown above, and less 

 darkly barred below. Resident. 



Eggs. — 4—6, bluish-white, densely blotched, largely 

 at the more rounded ehd, with reddish - brown ; 

 1-6 X 1-25 inch (plate 128). 



Nest. — Of sticks, lined with twigs, and placed next 

 the bole in a high tree. Sometimes an old nest of 

 a Crow or Wood- Pigeon is used aa a base for further 

 construction. 



Distribution. — General. 



The Sparrow-Hawk feeds principally upon small 

 birds, and for this reason, and because of its stealthy 

 mode of attack, habitually frequents the woodside. 

 It is distributed generally throughout the United 

 Kingdom wherever woods occur, and on the borders 

 of these it lurks in the foliage of the trees, waiting 



