BIRDS. 
165 
THE SPARROWHAWK. (Falco nisus ) 
THE Sparrowhawk is a bold-spirited bird, the length of the 
male is twelve inches, that of the female fifteen ; the beak 
is short, crooked, and of a bluish tint, but very black 
towards the tip ; the tongue black, and a little cleft ; the 
eyes of a middling size. The crown of the head is of a 
dark brown ; above the eyes, in the hinder part of the 
head, there are sometimes white feathers; the roots of the 
feathers of the head and neck are white ; the rest of the 
upper side, back, shoulders, wings, and neck, of a dark 
brown. The wings, when closed, scarcely reach to 
the middle of the tail ; the thighs are strong and fleshy, 
the legs long, slender, and yellow ; the toes also long, and 
the talons black. The female, which is, as in other birds 
of prey, much larger than the male, lays about five eggs, 
spotted near the blunt end with blood-red specks. When 
