58 
FALCO SPARVERIUS. 
It flies rather irregularly, occasionally suspending itself 
in the air, hovering over a particular spot for a minute 
or two, and then shooting off in another direction. It 
perches on the top of a dead tree or pole, in the middle 
of a field or meadow, and, as it alights, shuts its long 
wings so suddenly, that they seem instantly to dis- 
appear ; it sits here in an almost perpendicular position, 
sometimes for an hour at a time, frequently jerking its 
tail, and reconnoitring the ground below, in every direc- 
tion, for mice, lizards, &c. It approaches the farm-house, 
particularly in the morning, skulking about the barn- 
yard for mice or young chickens. It frequently plunges 
into a thicket after small birds, as if by random ; but 
always with a particular, and generally with a fatal, 
aim. One day I observed a bird of this species perched 
on the highest top of a large poplar, on the skirts of the 
wood, and was in the act of raising the gun to my eye, 
when he swept down with the rapidity of an arrow, into 
a thicket of briars, about thirty yards off, where I shot 
him dead, and, on coming up, found a small field sparrow 
quivering in his grasp. Both our aims had been taken 
at the same instant, and, unfortunately for him, both 
were fatal. It is particularly fond of watching along 
hedge-rows, and in orchards, where small birds usually 
resort. When grasshoppers are plenty, they form a 
considerable part of its food. 
Though small snakes, mice, lizards, &c. be favourite 
morsels with this active bird, yet we are not to suppose 
it altogether destitute of delicacy in feeding. It will 
seldom or never eat of any thing that it has not itself 
killed, and even that, if not (as epicures would term it) 
in good eating order , is sometimes rejected. A very 
respectable friend, through the medium of Mr Bartram, 
informs me, that one morning he observed one of these 
hawks dart down on the ground, and seize a mouse, 
which he carried to a fence post, where, after exami- 
ning it for some time, he left it, and, a little while after, 
pounced upon another mouse, which he instantly carried 
off to his nest, in the hollow of a tree hard by. The 
gentleman, anxious to know why the hawk had rejected 
