Female sparrow-hawks--very much bigger and stronger than their brothers--may be flown at any bird of the size of a partridge, or smaller, which is not very swift or quick in shifting. In the wild state they undoubtedly kill a certain number of wood-pigeons, taking them at some disadvantage, as, for instance, when they pass under a tree in which the hawk is at perch. Probably the wild sparrow-hawk also picks up an occasional peewit, snipe, or woodcock. She is fond of young pheasants, which she will pick up from the ground when insufficiently guarded by the mother or foster-mother. Young chickens sometimes undergo the same fate under similar circumstances. The uses of the trained sparrow-hawk, both male and female, are described in the chapter devoted to this hawk. Besra Sparrow-Hawk (_Accipiter virgatus_) This species, considerably smaller than _A. nisus_, is very common in the tropics, both in the wild and in the trained state, and is thought by many to be quite equal, if not superior, to it in courage and ability. Other sparrow-hawks which may be trained include the large species called the Levant sparrow-hawk (_A. brevipes_), _A. minullus_ and _A. tinus_, from South America, _A. cirrocephalus_, from Australia, _A. badius_, and the miniature _A. polyzonoides_. III. THE EAGLES In Western Europe no great use seems to have been made by the old falconers of any kind of eagle. D'Arcussia in the early editions of his book makes no reference to them as objects of the trainer's care, and some of the early English authors expressly speak of them as useless to the falconer by reason of their great weight, making it impossible, as they believed, to carry them on the fist, and also their powers of fasting, which, they supposed, precluded all chance of reducing them to proper obedience. In the East, however, they have from time immemorial been trained with success, and flown at a great variety of quarry suitable to their size and strength. For the far greater part of the knowledge which we now have about flights with eagles, we are indebted to Mr. J. E. Harting, who obtained much valuable information on this subject from the late Mr. Constantine Haller, an enthusiastic falconer, and president of a Russian falconry club which had its headquarters at St. Petersburg in 1884-85. Notwithstanding the efforts of these two very competent authorities, it is still exceedingly difficult to say with any certainty what sorts of eagles are now employed by the Kirghis and Turcomans and other Asiatic peoples, and what other sorts are regarded as unserviceable. As to the golden eagle and Bonelli's eagle there is no doubt; but the evidence as to the others below-mentioned cannot be said to be at all conclusive.