THE WINDHOVER HAWK. 



261 



them sometimes proves addle. This bird is seen 

 to the greatest advantage during the time that it 

 is occupied in rearing its young : at that period, 

 nothing throughout the whole range of ornitholo- 

 gical economy can surpass the elegance of its aerial 

 evolutions. 



Perhaps it is not generally known, that the wind- 

 hover is a migratory bird ; but whether the greater 

 part of these hawks leave England in the autumn, 

 or merely retire from their breeding-place to some 

 other part of our country^ more congenial to their 

 habits, is a problem which remains yet to be solved. 

 For my own part I am of opinion, that a very large 

 proportion of those which are bred in England leave 

 it in the autumn, to join the vast flights of hawks 

 which are seen to pass periodically over the Medi- 

 terranean Sea, on their way to Africa. 



Last summer I visited twenty-four nests in my 

 park, all with the windhover's eggs in them. The 

 old birds and their young tarried here till the de- 

 parture of the swallow, and then they disappeared. 

 During the winter, there is scarcely a windhover to 

 be found. Sometimes a pair or so makes its appear- 

 ance, but does not remain long. When February 

 has set in, more of the windhovers are seen ; and 

 about the middle of the month their numbers have 

 much increased. They may be then heard at all 

 hours of the day ; and he who loves to study nature 

 in the fields may observe them, now on soaring 

 wing, high above in the blue expanse of heaven ; 

 now hovering near the earth, ready to pounce upon 

 s 3 



