So FROM SPRING TO FALL. 



weight. He has left the marks of his bill and 

 his needle-like claws in my hands many a time. 

 His bright, yellow eye has a determined look which 

 bespeaks him a warrior bird, and his compact 

 build bears out the idea. At all times, and in all 

 places, he may be seen : on the hills and in the 

 wood, by the river-side and along the sea-shore, and 

 — where his company is very far from welcome — in 

 the farmyard. 



It is feeding-time, and what a commotion there 

 is among the poultry ! Geese hiss and cackle ; 

 turkeys yelp and give vent to their half-throttled 

 " Gobble, gobble, gobble ; " cocks crow and hens 

 cackle, while the guinea-fowls yell out their frantic 

 " Come-back, come-back ! " cows bellow and pigs 

 grunt, — the noise might be heard a mile away. 

 The sparrow-hawk does hear it, and he knows 

 the meaning of it all ; more than that, he intends 

 to profit by the occasion. After one or two sweeps 

 round the grass meadows, he turns his course in 

 the direction of the farm. A flicker of the wings, 

 and a sail along through the air, with his long 

 tail spread out a little, bears him rapidly along. 

 As he nears the old farmyard he glides into the 



