158 HAWKS AND HAWK-LIKE BIRDS. 



for some bird to come within range. When it does 

 so, the Hawk darts down upon its prey, and, heedless 

 of the small birds that generally gather to chide as it 

 feeds, plucks and eats its victim. At times it gives 

 chase in the open, pursuing its quarry with dash and 

 agility ; at others it may be seen scouring the ground 

 or coasting a wood with a close, hugging flight, 

 snapping a bird from its perch or from the grass 

 before it is aware of its enemy's approach. It is 

 seldom possible to get near enough to a Hawk to 

 identify it by any minor feature of form or marking, 

 so that the broader distinctions of size and flight, 

 habits and habitat, must be kept in view for this 

 purpose. It is with the Kestrel that the Sparrow- 

 Hawk is most likely to be confounded, being of about 

 the same size and, like it, generally distributed in 

 fair numbers. Let it, therefore, be remembered that 

 the Sparrow-Hawk builds a stick nest against the 

 trunk of an oak, alder, or pine tree in a wood, and 

 that the Kestrel, though at times appropriating an 

 old nest in a wood, breeds to a large extent on the 

 ledges of rocky clifiB ; that the Sparrow-Hawk fre- 

 quents wtJodsides, and feeds principally upon small 

 birds captured by stealth, whilst the Kestrel hovers 

 in mid-air above open lands in search of mice ; and 

 that the wings of the Sparrow-Hawk are notably 

 shorter than those of the Kestrel. 



GOSHAWK— 20 inches ; just like a larger Sparrow-Hawk, 

 and distinguishable only hy its greater size. 



KESTREL— 14-15i inches ; the male bij-d of a raddy-fawn 

 on the upper back and the under parts, tlie latter streaked 

 with black longitudinally, not barred across as in the 

 Sparrow-Hawk ; tail with a siaj;le broad black bar at 

 tbe end. 



