144 
allen’s naturalist’s library. 
then when the new feathers are assumed, they are always barred 
and no return to the striped breast ever takes place, but the 
bars on the under-parts are at first more or less brown, and 
become more and more rufous with each successive moult. 
f indicative of the a^e 
of the bird, as they decrease, as it gets older, from five to 
four. 
The female gains her adult plumage in the same way as the 
male, but does not become rufous underneath : in fact she 
gets greyer with age, and the rufous tuft of down on the sides 
of the body becomes more pronounced. 
Range in Great Britain. — The Sparrow- Flawk is found throuo-h- 
out the three kingdoms, wherever woodland localities occur 
M that it is rarer in some spots than others, such as the 
Orkneys, Shetlands, and Outer Hebrides. In Ireland Mr. 
Ussher says, it “breeds commonly wherever there are any 
trees. ■' 
A considerable migration takes place in the autumn to the 
east coa^st of Great Britain ; but many of the resident birds in 
Itngland, and especially Irish individuals, are very dark in 
colour. ^ 
Range outside the British Islands. — This species is found every- 
where in Europe, and extends north to the limits of forest- 
growth, about lat. 69 . It is less common in Southern 
Europe, where its numbers are largely reinforced by the 
niigrants from the north. It extends to Egypt and Kordofan 
in the winter, and at that time of year also visits Aden. 
Eastwmd it extends across Siberia to Corea and the Japanese 
Islands, being resident in these countries, as it is also in the 
Himalayas, where it breeds. In winter it visits China as far 
south as Canton. A large race, A. major, is recorded from 
Switzerland, and a dark-coloured resident race, A. melanochistus 
from the Himalayas. ’ 
Habit^ In its ways the Sparrow-Hawk is a miniature edition 
of the Gos-Hawk, possessing all the fire and pluck of that 
bird, but of course being much less powerful, and feeding 
on smaller game. It is an inhabitant of the woods, and li 
remarkably swift and agile in its movements, sallying forth 
