192 
OUR HOME BIRDS. 
off. There are four or five eggs of a light brownish- 
yellow color, spotted with a darker tint. 
“ Many stories are told of the sparrow-hawk’s 
audacity, which is said to exceed that of any of 
the hawk tribe. One of them was seen to pursue 
a pigeon straight through the glass of a drawing- 
room window, and out at the other end of the house 
through another window, never even slackening its 
speed at the rattling of the broken glass from the 
two windows. At another time, in the same draw- 
ing-room, a sparrow-hawk was found deliberately 
standing on a very large pouter pigeon lying on 
the floor, engaged in plucking it, having entered 
in pursuit of the unfortunate bird through an open 
window, and killed him in the room. 
“ A pleasanter story is told of one of these birds 
that became domesticated with some pigeons. When 
the pigeons came to feed from their master’s hand — 
which they frequently did — the hawk would appear 
among them. At first, the pigeons were decidedly shy 
of their strange companion, but by degrees they got 
over their fears, and ate their food as placidly as if 
their natural enemy had been one of themselves. It 
was curious, too, to see the playfulness of the hawk 
and his perfect good-nature during the distribution ; 
for he received his morsel of meat without any of 
that ferocity with which birds of prey usually take 
