THE KESTKEL. 105 



l>ir(ls. and (■al■l•ie^^ it off, tliougli the pigeon is tAvicc or three times his own weight. The 

 woman who takes cai-e of the poultry runs out, but is too late to see anytliing more 

 than a cloud of w^liite feathers, marking the place where the mifortunate pigeon was 

 struck. Its remains are, however, generally found at some little distance ; and when 

 this is the case, the hawk is sm-e to be caught, as he invariably returns to what he has 

 left. Sometimes he returns the same day to finish picking the bones of the bu'd, but 

 often does not come back for two or three. In the mean time, whatever part of the 

 pigeon he has left is pegged to the ground, and two or three rat-traps are set round 

 it, into one of which he always contrives to step. When caught, instead of seeming 

 frightened, he flies courageously at the hand put down to pick him up, and fights with 

 beak and talons to the last. Occasionally, when standuig still amongst the trees, or even 

 when passing the corner of the house, I have been startled by a sparrow-hawk ghduig 

 rapidly past me. Once one came so close to me that liis ■\vmg actually brushed my ann ; 

 the hawk being m full pursuit of an unfortunate blackbird. On another occasion, a 

 sparrow-hawk pm-sued a pigeon through the drawing-room window, and out at the other 

 end of the house through another window, and never slackened his pursuit, notwithstand- 

 ing the clattering of the broken glass of the two windows they passed thi-ough. But the 

 most extraordinary mstance of impudence in this bird that I ever met with, was one day 

 finding a sparrow-hawk deliberately standing on a very large pouter pigeon on the drawmg- 

 room floor, and plucking it, having entered in pursuit of the unfortunate Ijird through an 

 open window and killed him in the room." 



A remarkable Instance of the suddenness and rapidity with wliich the sparrow-hawk 

 makes his attack was once witnessed by a friend of the writer. Walking along a tall 

 hedge-row, which divided some fields ; his notice was attracted by a song-bird — probably 

 a linnet — which was not two yards distant, perched upon the top of a twig, and tuning 

 forth its " native wood-notes -wild ; " rapid as an arrow something flitted by — the joyous 

 strain was hushed — and the little melodist was far away, gi-asped in the talons of the 

 sparrow-hawk." 



A writer states, that when he was a boy he had a sparrow-hawk that used to accom- 

 pany him through the fields, catch his game, devour it at leisure, and, after all, find him 

 out wherever he went ; nor, after the first or second adventure of this kind, was he ever 

 afraid of losing it. A peasant, however, to his great mortification, one day shot the bird 

 for having made too free with some of his poultry. It was about as large as a wood- 

 pigeon ; and this gentleman says he has seen him fly at a turkey-cock, and, when beaten, 

 return to the charge with midaunted intrepidity ; he had also known him to kUl a fowl 

 five or six times as big as himself. 



THE KESTREL.* 



The colour of the kestrel is red, spotted with black above ; it is white, spotted with 

 pale bro\vn underneath ; the head and tail of the male are ashy. It is common in almost 



* Paloo Tinninculus. — fiouM 



