THE SPARROWHAWK. 
559 
In Europe we have but one representative of the 
family, though in other parts of the globe there are a 
good many allied species. The principal bodily charac¬ 
teristics of the Sparrowhawk are the short wings and 
long tail, small head, long tarsi, feet and talons, dark 
plumage on the upper parts, light-coloured breast and 
belly, transversely streaked with wavy lines of a darker 
tinge. Male and female are easily distinguished by 
their difference in size, and young and old birds by the 
plumage. 
The Sparrowhawk is a native of the greater portion of 
Europe: it is found everywhere where fields and woods 
abound; it delights in low woodland scrub and bushy 
copses, though it does not frequent them permanently. 
A true vagabond, it has no fixed home, and, except at 
the breeding time, roams far and near, a terror to all 
small birds, which it destroys, as well as to those larger 
species, which—unable to defend themselves, and yet too 
large for it to master entirely—it worries and frightens 
as much as it can. In March and September it under¬ 
takes long journeys, which might almost be called 
migrations, inasmuch as, according to my own observa¬ 
tion, it wanders as far as Spain, Greece, Egypt, aye, 
even into Nubia. It is only during the breeding season 
in May, June, and July, that it takes up a fixed residence ; 
as soon as that season is over, away it starts again. 
The male would appear to be commoner than the 
female; it is much more delicately formed, and goes 
further south than the latter. The Sparrowhawk roosts 
in woods, preferring those in which the trees are of a 
moderate height and stand close together, for it loves 
concealment, and always seeks to hide itself, and that 
more on account of its prey than its enemies. If you 
