THE BIRDS USED IN HAWKING 35 



brown, and develop a rusty red colouring on the abdomen 

 and inner thighs. The legs and feet become more distinctly 

 yellow or gold colour, and the eye deepens in colour to 

 light and ultimately to dark orange. Males in the immature 

 plumage differ from females only in having a somewhat more 

 rufous hue on the lighter part. But after the moult this rufous 

 colouring becomes still more conspicuous, and spreads to the 

 flanks and under surface of the wings, as well as to the upper 

 throat. In both sexes the bars on the breast and thighs become 

 narrower and of a fainter grey as the birds grow older ; and the 

 eyes deepen in colour. 



Female sparrow-hawks — very much bigger and stronger than 

 their brothers — may be flown at any bird of the size of a partridge, 

 or smaller, which is not very swift or quick in shifting. In 

 the, wild state they undoubtedly kill a certain number of wood- 

 pigeons, taking them at some disadvantage, as, for instance, 

 when they pass under a tree in which the hawk is at perch. 

 Probably the wild sparrow-hawk also picks up an occasional 

 peewit, snipe, or woodcock. She is fond of young pheasants, 

 which she will pick up from the ground when insufficiently 

 guarded by the mother or foster-mother. Young chickens 

 sometimes undergo the same fate under similar circumstances. 

 The uses of the trained sparrow-hawk, both male and female, 

 are described in the chapter devoted to this hawk. 



BESRA SPARROW-HAWK (Accipiter virgatus) 



This species, considerably smaller than A. nisus, is very 

 common in the tropics, both in the wild and in the trained state, 

 and is thought by many to be quite equal, if not superior, to it 

 in courage and ability. 



Other sparrow-hawks which may be trained include the large 

 species called the Levant sparrow-hawk (A.brevipes), A. minullus 

 and A. tinus, from South America, A . cirrocephalus, from 

 Australia, A. badius, and the miniature A. polyzonoides. 



* 



III. THE EAGLES 



In Western Europe no great use seems to have been made 

 by the old falconers of any kind of eagle. D'Arcussia in the 

 early editions of his book makes no reference to them as 

 objects of the trainer's care, and some of the early English 



