sinuated[1] but never notched. To these may be added as characters, structurally perhaps of less value, but in other respects quite as important, that the sexes differ very greatly in size, that in most species the irides are yellow, deepening with age into orange or even red, and that the immature plumage is almost invariably more or less striped or mottled with heart-shaped spots beneath, while that of the adults is generally much barred, though the old males have in many instances the breast and belly quite free from markings. Nearly all are of small or moderate size—the largest among them being the gos-hawk (q.v.) and its immediate allies, and the male of the smallest, Accipiter tinus, is not bigger than a song-thrush. They are all birds of great boldness in attacking a quarry, but if foiled in the first attempts they are apt to leave the pursuit. Thoroughly arboreal in their habits, they seek their prey, chiefly consisting of birds (though reptiles and small mammals are also taken), among trees or bushes, patiently waiting for a victim to shew itself, and gliding upon it when it appears to be unwary with a rapid swoop, clutching it in their talons, and bearing it away to eat it in some convenient spot.
 |
| European Sparrow-Hawk (Male and Female). |
Systematic ornithologists differ as to the groups into which the numerous forms known as hawks should be divided. There is at the outset a difference of opinion as to the scientific name which the largest and best known of these groups should bear—some authors terming it Nisus, and others, who seem to have the most justice on their side, Accipiter. In Europe there are two species—first, A. nisus, the common sparrow-hawk, which has a wide distribution from Ireland to Japan, extending also to northern India, Egypt and Algeria, and secondly, A. brevipes (by some placed in the group Micronisus and by others called an Astur), which only appears in the south-east and the adjoining parts of Asia Minor and Persia. In North America the place of the former is taken by two very distinct species, a small one, A. fuscus, usually known in Canada and the United States as the sharp-shinned hawk, and Stanley’s or Cooper’s hawk, A. cooperi (by some placed in another genus, Cooperastur), which is larger and has not so northerly a range. In South America there are four or five more, including A. tinus, before mentioned as the smallest of all, while a species not much larger, A. minullus, together with several others of greater size, inhabits South Africa. Madagascar and its neighbouring islands have three or four species sufficiently distinct, and India has A. badlus. A good many more forms are found in south-eastern Asia, in the Indo-Malay Archipelago, and in Australia three or four species, of which A. cirrhocephalus most nearly represents the sparrow-hawk of Europe and northern Asia, while A. radiatus and A. approximans show some affinity to the gos-hawks (Astur) with which they are often classed. The differences between all the forms above named and the much larger number here unnamed are such as can be only appreciated by the specialist. The so-called “sparrow-hawk” of New Zealand (Hieracidea) does not belong to this group of birds at all, and by many authors has been deemed akin to the falcons. For hawking see Falconry. (A. N.)
HAWKE, EDWARD HAWKE, Baron (1705–1781), British
admiral, was the only son of Edward Hawke, a barrister. On
his mother’s side he was the nephew of Colonel Martin Bladen
(1680–1746), a politician of some note, and was connected with
the family of Fairfax. Edward Hawke entered the navy on the
20th of February 1720 and served the time required to qualify
him to hold a lieutenant’s commission on the North American
and West Indian stations. Though he passed his examination
on the 2nd of June 1725, he was not appointed to a ship to act in
that rank till 1729, when he was named third lieutenant of the
“Portland” in the Channel. The continuance of peace allowed
him no opportunities of distinction, but he was fortunate in
obtaining promotion as commander of the “Wolf” sloop in
1733, and as post captain of the “Flamborough” (20) in 1734.
When war began with Spain in 1739, he served as captain of the
“Portland” (50) in the West Indies. His ship was old and rotten.
She nearly drowned her captain and crew, and was broken up
after she was paid off in 1742. In the following year Hawke was
appointed to the “Berwick” (70), a fine new vessel, and was
attached to the Mediterranean fleet then under the command
of Thomas Mathews. The “Berwick” was manned badly, and
suffered severely from sickness, but in the ill-managed battle of
Toulon on the 11th of January 1744 Hawke gained great distinction
by the spirit with which he fought his ship. The only
prize taken by the British fleet, the Spanish “Poder” (74),
surrendered to him, and though she was not kept by the admiral,
Hawke was not in any degree to blame for the loss of the only
trophy of the fight. His gallantry attracted the attention of
the king. There is a story that he was dismissed from the service for
having left the line to engage the “Poder,” and was restored
by the king’s order. The legend grew not unnaturally out of the
confusing series of courts martial which arose out of the battle,
but it has no foundation. There is better reason to believe that
when at a later period the Admiralty intended to pass over
Hawke’s name in a promotion of admirals, the king, George II.,
did insist that he should not be put on the retired list.
He had no further chance of making his energy and ability known out of the ranks of his own profession, where they were fully realized, till 1747. In July of that year he attained flag rank, and was named second in command of the Channel fleet. Owing to the ill health of his superior he was sent in command of the fourteen ships detached to intercept a French convoy on its way to the West Indies. On the 14th of October 1747 he fell in with it in the Bay of Biscay. The French force, under M. Desherbiers de l’Étenduère, consisted of nine ships, which were, however, on the average larger than Hawke’s. He attacked at once. The French admiral sent one of his liners to escort the merchant ships on their way to the West Indies, and with the other eight fought a very gallant action with the British squadron. Six of the eight French ships were taken. The French admiral did for a time succeed in saving the trading vessels under his charge, but most of them fell into the hands of the British cruisers in the West Indies. Hawke was made a knight of the Bath for this timely piece of service, a reward which cannot be said to have been lavish.
In 1747 Hawke had been elected M.P. for Portsmouth, which he continued to represent for thirty years, though he can seldom have been in his place, and it does not appear that he often spoke. A seat in parliament was always valuable to a naval officer at that time, since it enabled him to be useful to ministers, and increased his chances of obtaining employment. Hawke had married a lady of fortune in Yorkshire, Catherine Brook, in 1737, and was able to meet the expenses entailed by a seat in parliament, which were considerable at a time when votes were openly paid for by money down. In the interval between the war of
- ↑ In one form, Nisoides, which on that account has been generically separated, they are said to be perfectly straight.
