COLLARED SPARROW-HAWK. 
fearless pursuit of his prey, which, from the quickness of his abrupt turns, 
rarely eludes the attack.” {Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. I., p. 33, 1865.) 
Mr. Thos. P. Austin has written me from Cobbora, New South Wales : 
“ Only upon three occasions have I seen this species in this district and 
each time they were nesting, and using an old nest of Haliastur sphenurus : 
the first one I found, although I fiushed a bird from it, contained no eggs ; 
owing to being busy with shearing I did not have time to visit it again 
for about three weeks, when the nest contained four young, which did 
not appear to be more than a few days old : they were covered all over 
with a light chocolate-brown down. The birds when sitting are very difficult 
to flush from their nests.” 
As usual, full accounts of its nesting habits are given in the Austr. 
Mus. Spec. Cat., no. 1, Vol. III., p. 195-8, 1911, and from that source 
I extract the following notes : 
Mr. G. Savidge, from the Upper Clarence River, New South Wales, 
observed : “ The Collared Sparrow-Hawk is fairly common throughout the 
Clarence River District, and is a much smarter bird than the Goshawk, 
and it is not such a troublesome bird to the settlers as the latter. A 
pair nested in a tree close to a farmer’s place here for many years, 
using the same nest each season until it was blown down by a gale 
of wind. It was on a thin limb of a Bloodwood-tree, and out of reach 
of the most expert climbers : it removed and constructed its nest in an 
apple-tree close by. . . . Although this bird had young for so many 
years in such close proximity to the fowls and chickens^ it was never 
known to molest them in any way.” Mr. Robert Grant added ; “ The 
Collared Sparrow-Hawk is sparingly distributed over the Blue Mountains, 
New South Wales, and is generally met with in the valleys or flats. During 
flight it is remarkably quick in its movements, and is usually seen about 
six or eight feet from the ground gliding in and out of the trees, and it 
has often surprised me that it does not come in contact with thqpi. It 
is very destructive to small birds, and I have seen one strike and secure 
a YeUow-breasted Robin {Eopsaltria australis) without apparently lessening 
its speed in any way. Of the many I have shot, the stomachs of nearly 
all of them contained the remains of small birds.” Mr. Malcome Harrison, 
from Hobarti, Tasmania, wrote : “ Although the Sparrow-Hawk is so 
comparatively common, its eggs are difficult to obtain and I know of 
very few sets obtained locally. Those I have seen are well coloured. 
Personally I have not come across more than two or three nests, and 
those were practically inaccessible. When living at New Town, some years 
ago, I saw from my window a Sparrow-Hawk strike down a Sparrow and 
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