THE SPAREOW-HAWKS. 
145 
from its retreat and snatching unsuspecting birds on the trees 
nr hi tL hed-erows. A Falcon will not pursue a bird which 
hartakeVrcfiige in a tree, but I have seen a Sparrow-Hawk 
follow a Blackbird through a tangled willow-thicket, doub ing 
as its quarry doubled, till it drove it out across the river and 
might have caught it, had I not been interested in the changes 
of ^plumage which the species undergoes, and to which I 
have alluded above. As it was, I forgot for the moment all 
about the Ducks I had been waiting for so long, and bagged 
the Sparrow-Hawk for the British Museum, where it is still. 
The dread with which the bird is regarded by all the smaller 
species shows that they hold the Sparrow-Hawk in consider- 
able awe though Swallows and Martins will mob it freely as 
TcroS r,om one wood to another. IB method ot capturmg 
small birds is, however, mostly by seizing 
before they have time to escape by hiding. Ihus the Haw k 
will fly along the side of a wood or hedgerow, and suddenly 
snatch a small bird from the twig on which it sits singing, or 
drop down on it as it crouches in the grass. Besides small 
birds it also catches mice and rats, but it can be very destruc- 
tive to chickens and young Pheasants and Partridges, and is. 
therefore, shot and trapped by keepers on every occasion. 
Nest — Phe Sparrow-Hawk breeds in May, and usually, Mr 
Seeboirm says invariably, builds its own nest, which is composed 
of sticks and the tree selected appears to vary according o 
MeSity, for whereas Mr. Seebohm gives preference to the oak, 
as the favourite tree selected by the bird, he mentions also 
alder, and not unfrequently a pine-tree as a nesting-site. 
My own experience in Hampshire, where I have taken many 
nests at Avington, is in favour of the last-named tree, and I 
never remember the nest being built in any other. It is always 
placed at a considerable height, and near the trunk. Ihe 
female sits very close, and I remember one occasion when 
three of us had come out to take the nest and shoot the old 
birds After clapping our hands and knocking the tree to 
see if the old bird was on the nest, we were to take 
up our stations to await its return, when it occurred to me ^ 
sL if I could hit the nest with a pine branch which wa ymg 
near. My first attempt sent it smartly against the bottom ot 
8 ^ 
