NOTES AND QUERIES. 341 



and I observed a female Sparrovvhawk dashing after it in close pursuit ; the 

 Woodpecker went " plump " upon the tree to which it was hastening, about 

 six or seven feet from the ground, and the Sparrowhawk did likewise, but 

 with very different result, for it fell trembling to the foot of the tree, slightly 

 stunned, I suppose, by the sudden stoppage. I sprang up and ran towards 

 it, but in the meantime it had recovered itself sufficiently to prevent my 

 capturing it. The Woodpecker had quietly disappeared, I know not where, 

 and the whole transaction, from start to finish, occupied far less time than 

 my description of it. — G. B. Corbin (Ringwood, Hants). 



Period of Incubation of the Sparrowhawk. — As I do not find any 

 information on this point in the various bird-books which I have consulted, 

 an observation on the subject may be acceptable. A gamekeeper assured 

 me last spring that the Sparrowhawk sits five weeks. As I thought he had 

 probably overstated the time, I purposely kept a nest under observation. 

 Five eggs were hatched, and the period of incubation proved to be from 

 thirty-seven to thirty-eight days. — J. H. Salter (University College, 

 Aberystwith). 



Montagu's Harrier in Hants.— Notwithstanding the almost universal 

 war which is waged against all the Hawk tribe, it is gratifying year after 

 year to be able to note their continued existence in our midst. During the 

 past summer I have known of two, if not three, pairs of Montagu's Harrier 

 nesting in the valley of the Avon. One pair brought off a brood of three, 

 which were seen from time to time frequenting the place of their birth — 

 a low, somewhat damp, situation covered with coarse grass aud other 

 herbage, amongst which Osmunda regalis grew tallest, with here and there a 

 few scattered birches of a stunted growth, the whole situation being overhung 

 by a noble oak-wood crowning the distant hill. That these birds, old and 

 young, should have escaped the vigilant eyes — or rather gun — of the game- 

 keeper is a mystery I cannot explain, except that the spot chosen by the 

 Harriers was some considerable distance from the dry situation where the 

 coops for rearing his " birds " were placed. Another pair of the same 

 species frequented a situation a few miles further down the valley, but I am 

 sorry to add both were killed, the male on June 4th, and the female ten 

 days later. From the denuded under-parts, the latter showed unmistakable 

 signs of nidificatiou, and the keeper who killed the bird said he believed 

 she had young somewhere on the extensive heaths to the west of the river, 

 as she and her mate always came from that direction. It is somewhat 

 remarkable that three or four days after he had shot the male he observed 

 another " blue hawk " in company with the female, and even after she was 

 slain still a pair of old birds was left, so there must have been two pairs in 

 the vicinity, for the young, if hatched, were certainly not in the plumage 

 described. It is interesting to note the nature of the food of this species 



