30 FALCONID.E. 



flight of the Sparrow-Hawk is particularly buoyant, from the 

 extreme lightness of his slender body, and rapid, notwith- 

 standing his short wings. He is valued by the falconer on 

 account of his readiness in learning the lessons instilled by his 

 master ; he is courageous and daring, and will attack birds 

 much his superior in size. The female, on account of her 

 superiority of size, may be trained to catch partridges and 

 quails. In the month of April the Sparrow-Hawk retires 

 into the woods with his mate : the place chosen for nidifi- 

 cation is usually among the uppermost branches of a pine or 

 fir tree. The nest consists of sticks and is lined with moss 

 and hair, and flat in form : sometimes a deserted crow's nest 

 is chosen for the foundation. The eggs are from four in 

 number to six or seven, and are marked with reddish brown 

 blotches upon a bluish white ground. The blue ground 

 colour fades shortly after the eggs are preserved ; cabinet 

 specimens are therefore paler than the one represented in the 

 plate (fig. 6), which was drawn from a fresh specimen taken 

 from a fir tree in the woods at Claremont. The young birds, 

 which are hatched after three weeks' incubation, are at first 

 covered with white down ; the females may be detected even 

 in the nest by their superior size : they are fed upon small 

 birds, mice, and insects. The mother courageously defends 

 her young if molested, and will lose her life rather than leave 

 the spot ; the male, more shy, will retreat on the first alarm, 

 and from a distance view the tragedy that ensues. Although 

 the Sparrow-Hawk is well known to feed on pigeons, and is 

 even said to take the young ones from their nest, I am ac- 

 quainted with an instance of a pair of pigeons and their young 

 offspring being respected by a pair of Sparrow-Hawks, al- 

 though in the immediate vicinity of their own young brood. 

 On the banks of the Thames at Weybridge a pair of these 

 Hawks built in the top of a lofty cedar tree ; in a few days 

 a pair of wood-pigeons selected a lower branch of the same 



