Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 11.djvu/568

to England and to other parts of Scotland to- be woven ; while the merino yarn used for the finer goods is chiefly obtained from Pleasley and Nottingham. Besides the staples, tweeds and hosiery, Hawick manufactures shawls, plaids, blankets, gloves, and leather. There are also an oil-work, for extracting oil from the soapy refuse of the fulling-mills, an iron-foundry, and a factory-engineering establishment. The population of the burgh in 1871 was

11,356; in 1879 it was estimated at about 15,000.

HAWK (Anglo-Saxon, Hafoc), a word of somewhat indefinite meaning, being often used to signify all diurnal Birds-of-prey which are neither Vultures nor Eagles, and again more exclusively for those of the remainder which are not Buzzards, Falcons, Harriers, or Kites. Even with this restriction it is comprehensive enough, and will include more than a hundred species, which have been arrayed in genera varying in number from a dozen to above a score, according to the fancy of the systematizes Speaking generally, Hawks may be characterized by possessing com paratively short wings and long legs, a bill which begins to decurve directly from the cere (or soft bare skin that covers its base), and has the cutting edges of its maxilla (or upper mandible) 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 iricles are yellow, deepening with age into orange or even red, and that the immature plumage is almost invariably more European Sparrow-Hawk (Male and Female). 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 (vol. x. p. 788) 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 attempt 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, anl gliling 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).

It is of course impossible here to enter into details of the numerous forms which, notwithstanding the limitation above adoptel, are to be called Hawks, or to describe the distinguishing characters, so far as any have been given, of the different groups or sections into which it has pleased systematic ornithologists to break them up, since hardly any two are agreed in the latter respect. There is at the outset a difference of opinion as to the scientific name which the largest and best known of these sections should bear some authors terming it Nisns, 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, ex tending also to northern India, Egypt, and Algeria, and secondly, A. brevipes (by some placed in the group Micro- nisus 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. fusats, 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. Radius. A good many more forms are found in South-eastern Asia, in the Indo-Malay Archi pelago, and in Australia three or four species, of which A. cirr/iocephaltis most nearly represents the Sparrow-Hawk of Europe and Northern Asia, while A. radiatus and A. approximans shew some affinity to the Gos-Hawks (Astur} with which they are often classed. The differences be tween all the forms above named and the much larger number here unnamed are such as can be only appreciated by the specialist, and could not possibly be pointed out within the limits of this article. It may be observed in conclusion that 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), an

English admiral, was the son of a barrister and was born in 1705. He entered the navy at an early age, and in 1733 became commander of the " Wolf." In the engagement off Toulon in 1744, he broke from the line of battle in order to engage the "Pocler," and although he succeeded in causing her to strike her colours, his breach of discipline was punished by dismissal from the service. He was, however, almost immediately restored by the king s commands, and in 1747 was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral of the white. In October of the same year he was sent in command of a squadron intended to intercept a fleet of merchant vessels bound for the West Indies under a convoy of nine men-of- war, and coming up with them on the 1 4th of the month near the isle of Aix, he succeeded after a severe struggle in capturing six of the men-of-war, but darkness coming on before the close of the contest the whole of the merchant vessels escaped. For his victory Hawke was created a knight companion of the Bath. In December of the same year he was chosen member of parliament for Bristol. In May 1748 he became vice-admiral of the blue, and in January 1755 admiral of the white. In the following year he succeeded A.dmiral Byng as commander of the fleet in the Mediterranean, but arrived too late to succour Minorca ; and in none of the commands which he subsequently held did he have an opportunity of distinguishing himself till 1759, when he took charge of a squadron sent to cruise off Brest. On the morning of the 20th November he sighted

the French fleet under Admiral Conflans off Belleisle, and

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1. In one form, Nisoides, which on that account has been generically separated, they are said to be perfectly straight.