224 JOTTINGS ABOUT BIRDS. 



vastness of the flight. I have also repeatecll}' re- 

 marked that certain lanes are more specially favoured 

 than others year by year as resting-places, which 

 fact to my mind very clearly proves how closely, 

 how very closely birds follow certain routes to which 

 they have become thoroughly accustomed by years 

 and years of migratory experience. 



Many interesting glimpses of the Kestrel and 

 the Sparrow Hawk may be obtained in these lanes. 

 During the present spring, for instance, I stood for 

 nearly an hour watching the movements of a pair 

 of Kestrels, and saw this pretty Hawk engage in 

 actions I had never witnessed before. The lane 

 I watched from w^as on a hill-side ; at the bottom 

 of the hill another lane ran parallel to it, with a 

 small stream by the hedge. Time after time I 

 watched the female bird flutter along this ditch, 

 which was not more than a couple of feet in wddth, 

 skimming a few inches above the water, and after 

 each flight return to an old stump to rest, and 

 apparently to watch. Exactly the same manoeuvre 

 was repeated many times until a frog or a mouse 

 was captured — I was too far away to make out 

 which — and borne off in triumph to the adjoining 

 wood. I have never previously known the Kestrel 

 hunt systematically so close to the ground as this. 



