SPARROW-HAWK. 31 



tree, in which they also built their nest, and subsequently 

 hatched and reared their young ones entirely unmolested by 

 their dangerous neighbours. 



This Hawk is the greatest enemy of sparrows and other 

 small birds ; and as he can take them at every disadvantage, 

 they have no way of escape but by flying into a hole in a 

 tree, or hiding themselves in some other manner from observ- 

 ation. If they are overtaken by him, and there is no shelter 

 near, they will crouch close to the ground, and in this man- 

 ner sometimes escapes his vigilance. 



When in search of his prey he flies with the swiftness of 

 an arrow, and in order that his approach may not be observed, 

 he skims near the ground, or close to hedges and palings : 

 when arrived at the spot where he expects the birds he is in 

 pursuit of, he mounts quickly and descends like lightning 

 upon the little flock, and, having secured his victim, escapes 

 with it to his retreat. The larger birds are plucked very 

 clean before they are devoured ; the smaller ones are swal- 

 lowed nearly entire. I have seen a Sparrow-Hawk swallow 

 even the legs and long hind claws of the skylark. Sparrow- 

 Hawks are not only met with in all parts of Europe, but in 

 the temperate regions of Asia and Africa. 



When alive, or recently killed, the upper plumage of the 

 adult male Sparrow-Hawk is rich bluish grey, as represented 

 in the plate ; this colour is more or less evanescent 3 although 

 more permanent in this species than in the Goshawk. Above 

 the eyes is an interrupted band of white, which passes to the 

 back of the head, and is permanent at all ages. The tail and 

 upper tail-coverts are of the same colour as the back and 

 wings : the quill-feathers are dusky grey towards the tips, 

 the outer web brownish. The under parts are white, barred 

 with brown and rust colour, and tinged with rust along the 

 sides of the neck and flanks. The beak is blue at the base, 

 the tip dark horn ; the base of the under mandible ochreous 



