. British birds. Birds. VOL. HABITS OF SPARROW-HAWK. 113 then the other. Occasionally, as they overtake one another, they seem to squabble and the pace increases for a short distance. They sometimes attain a tremendous altitude and then suddenly break off the movements and separate. At other times, after reaching a considerable height, they will suddenly descend like plummets to the wood and shortly afterwards resume the curious Fig. 4. SPARROW-HAWK,' The lien stretchiug a wiug and the tail to their fullest extent. [(Photographed by J. H. Owen.) It is strange that, so far as I can
. British birds. Birds. VOL. HABITS OF SPARROW-HAWK. 113 then the other. Occasionally, as they overtake one another, they seem to squabble and the pace increases for a short distance. They sometimes attain a tremendous altitude and then suddenly break off the movements and separate. At other times, after reaching a considerable height, they will suddenly descend like plummets to the wood and shortly afterwards resume the curious Fig. 4. SPARROW-HAWK,' The lien stretchiug a wiug and the tail to their fullest extent. [(Photographed by J. H. Owen.) It is strange that, so far as I can tell, no notice is taken of the wind, but the flights follow the length of the wood,, in a narrow wood at any rate. The slow, measured wing-beats resemble the evening flight of the Jackdaw more than that of any other bird. The note used is generally the sibilant whistle. I have also seen such flights, sometimes across open ground, performed by single birds in late summer and early autumn. Later on, as the time for laying approaches, the cock alone does these flights, while the hen remains perched. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original London, Witherby & Co
Size: 1794px × 1393px
Photo credit: © Library Book Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherl, booksubjectbirds
