CATALOGUE OF BIRDS. 2/9 



that the bird has to use a good deal of muscular 

 power with the wings to keep himself nearly station- 

 ary over the object of his prey. 



The specimens in the case are a complete family, 

 which I ofot in Radnorshire. Beintr anxious to have 

 them in my collection, I set a boy at work — 

 the keeper of the sporting estate being too lazy — to 

 try and find me a nest. After some considerable lapse 

 of time, I obtained information of one; I made one or 

 two futile attempts at first owing, to the extreme 

 wariness of the parents. The nest was in a tall fir 

 tree, and one wet day the hen stuck to her post 

 rather longer than was her wont, so that when she 

 flew off I happened by chance— for that is what it 

 really amounted to— to be within shot of her, and 

 brought her down. I then took the three young 

 birds, and set a spring trap for the male bird across 

 the empty nest; by that same evening I managed to 

 bag him too. 



The Kestrel has a very wide distribution, embracing 

 the best part the of Old World. Howard Saunders 

 says: "Nowhere is it more abundant than in Spain, 

 where swarms may be seen, especially towards sunset, 

 circling round the lofty church towers of Cordova 

 and Seville." 



