The Sparrow Hawk. 



453 



on the inner web, intersected with four bars of dark brown, 

 extending across the entire width of the wings ; the fourth 

 and fifth primaries are the longest, as in many birds that 

 are powerful on the wing, and excel in rapidity of flight. 

 A few of the inner flight feathers, next the body, have broad 

 transverse spots of white. The tail consists of twelve feathers, 

 which are golden brown in colour, but less vivid, and a few 

 shades darker in hue, than the flight feathers, and intersected 

 with five or six bars of dark brown. The under part of the 

 neck, the breast, sides, and larger wing coverts, are of a beauti- 

 ful pale partridge brown, interspersed with white, and splen- 

 didly barred with wavy lines of dark brown ; the chin is leaden 

 grey ; the under parts of the wing are silvery grey and 

 dove colour, blended, and elegantly striped with brown ; the 

 under tail coverts are pearly grey, and there are five bars of 

 silvery brown on the under side of the larger feathers, com- 

 prising the tail. The legs and feet are yellow, and the 

 claws black. In older birds the upper parts become more 

 of a leaden greyish blue in the ground colour. 



Habits and Breeding. — The Sparrow Hawk is indigenous to 

 Great Britain, and common throughout Europe, It is a very 

 rapacious bird, and displays great eagerness and determination 

 in the pursuit of its prey, which does not easily escape. 



These birds build their nests principally in lofty trees ; occa- 

 sionally they make use of the deserted nest of a Crow. The 

 hen lays four or five bluish white eggs, variously marked and 

 blotched with reddish brown, especially at the blunt end, and 

 in some cases forming a reddish, irregular circle. The young 

 remain in the nest until they are fully feathered and able 

 to fly away. The parents teach them how to hunt and 

 secure their prey. Sparrow Hawks are held in great abhor- 

 rence by gamekeepers and farmers, as they attack young Part- 

 ridges and Pheasants, as well as Chickens, Ducklings, and 

 young Pigeons, indiscriminately, and kill and carry them off 

 in the most daring and reckless fashion. They hunt low, and 

 search hedges for small birds. 



Methods of Capture. — These birds may be taken in the 

 hawk trap {vide Chapter LXXXIL, on the ''Kestrel Hawk"). 

 They are not infrequently caught with spring traps, baited 

 with a live bird secured to a piece of wood formed like a 

 cross, and driven into the ground in close proximity to the trap. 



