THE ORNITHOLOGIST. 



Vol. I. MAY, 1896. No. 3. 



BBEEDING HABITS OF THE SPAKKOW-HAWK. 

 By H. S. Davenpoet. 



Oenithologists of the present day owe so much to the 

 researches and publications of men of generations past, that it 

 seems ungenerous to find fault with statements which fail to 

 stand the test of practical examination in more recent times. 

 Still, in spite of the weight of literature against me, I propose 

 to offer a few remarks on the nesting economy of Accipiter. 

 nisus, believing that the truth is the main point to be kept in 

 view, and strong also in the conviction that my own observa- 

 tions and experiences touching this particular phase in the 

 life-history of the Sparrow-hawk, extending as they do over a 

 period of twenty-five years, and resulting from persistent study 

 of the species in its native haunts, cannot be one long tangle 

 of confused blunderings and self-imposed deceits. 



A paragraph which appeared in a recent review of Mr. 

 W. H. Hudson's "British Birds" in the " Athenseum " of 

 March 7th, arrested my attention, and I read, with not a little 

 surprise, the appended criticism : — " But we can hardly pass 

 unnoticed the statement that ' it is probable that in nearly all 

 cases the Sparrow-hawk takes possession of an old nest of 

 some other bird,' for the fact that the Sparrow-hawk and Gos- 

 hawk generally make a large nest of twigs for themselves is 



