80 
sprung a second, and a third, in the same 
field, and these likewise got away; the hawk 
hovering round him all the while he was 
beating the field, conscious, no doubt, of the 
game that lurked in the stubble. Hence 
we may conclude, that this bird of prey was 
rendered very daring and bold by hunger, 
and that hawks are not always in a condition 
to strike their game. We may further ob- 
serve, that they cannot always pounce on 
their quarry when it is upon the ground, 
where it might be able to make a stout re- 
sistance ; since so large a bird as a pheasant 
could not but be visible to the piercing eye 
of a hawk, when hovering over it. Hence 
that propensity in game to cowering and 
squatting till they are almost trod upon ; 
which doubtless was intended as a mode of 
self-preservation, though it has long been 
rendered destructive by the invention of nets 
and guns. 
The female differs so strikingly in its plu- 
mage from the male, that we have thought 
proper to give it a separate plate. 
