1 1 2 The Sparrow Hawk 



by law, instead of being a mark for every passing 

 gunner. 



The sparrow hawk lives in harmony with most other 

 birds, even when nesting near them. Last summer 

 I discovered two old maple stubs standing about 

 twenty feet apart by the edge of a meadow; in one 

 of these were flickers nesting, in the other were three 

 hungry young sparrow hawks always clamoring to 

 be fed. I watched these two famiUes until the young 

 of each flew away, and not once did I observe the 

 sparrow hawks troubhng the flickers. On the con- 

 trary, the sparrow hawks were a help, keeping all 

 larger hawks and crows at a distance. 



The blue jay appears to have a great disUke for 

 the sparrow hawk, and on several occasions I have 

 seen three or more blue jays noisily pursuing one 

 hawk. I remember an incident of this kind that 

 happened in the autumn of 1900 in a large apple- 

 orchard, where I was photographing the nest of a 

 red squirrel. When I first entered the orchard I 

 noticed the hawk perched on the top of a tree, and 

 as he was not far from the squirrel's nest, I frequently 

 looked his way. It seemed rather unusual to me 

 that this species of hawk should remain on one perch 

 for such a long time, so I drew near to the tree. As 

 I did so the bird gently raised his wings, vibrating them 



