44 THE ORNITHOLOGIST. 



These same nests, erstwhile the possessions of Ring-doves, 

 Carrion-crows and Magpies, generally presented a very ragged 

 appearance previously to adaptation, being tattered and torn by 

 the storms and gales of winter. The breeding season, however, 

 is at hand, and I say to all who are interested in the question, 

 go out into the woods and form your own conclusions by a 

 minute examination of the nests of this species. I do not 

 wish to plead for a fairer or more impartial tribunal. 



My experience of the breeding habits of the Sparrow-hawk 

 has been as follows : — long ere the leaf is out, sometimes, 

 indeed, as early as the end of March, mental selection is 

 unquestionably made of the nest that is eventually to be 

 utilised as a breeding site. At dawn, and again at the 

 approach of dusk, the birds are frequently to be found in its 

 vicinity, either soaring high in the air and occasionally uttering 

 sharp screams as they wheel to and fro, or else perched in the 

 trees beneath. With the advance of spring they will be found 

 busy at the nest itself, apparently cleaning and patching it up, 

 while in course of time there is superimposed a shallow and 

 very extended structure of twigs and sticks, in which receptacle 

 the eggs are laid. The substructure or basis is entirely the 

 handiwork of some other species ; the super-structure that of 

 the Sparrow-hawks themselves. The birds gather the supple- 

 mentary materials chiefly from beneath the tree, flying up and 

 down in turn, as I have repeatedly proved by watching them 

 from an ambush. 



Considering, then, that I have known many a nest belong- 

 ing to an alien species one year converted into a Sparrow- 

 hawk's the next ; that I have invariably found an ancient 

 basis beneath the structure formed by the Sparrow-hawks 

 themselves ; that I have never met with an instance myself, 

 nor heard of an instance, wherein one of this species had been 

 detected in the act of carrying the initial sticks and twigs to a 

 vacant site ; and lastly, that the connection between the ready- 

 made foundation or appropriated substructure and the newly 

 fashioned super-structure is so transparent as to be obvious to 

 anyone possessing sense and sight : — I repeat, considering all 

 this, I think that I am abundantly justified in repudiating the 

 unsubstantiated assertions of anonymous reviewers, who may, 



