12 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS 



Zool., 1889, p. 232). A pinioned Kestrel, kept in 

 a walled garden at Burnley Hall, East Somerton, 

 Norfolk, built a nest in the corner of a tool-house 

 and hatched five young ones. Mr. W. H. St. Quin- 

 tin, of Scampston Hall, Yorkshire, had a pair of 

 Kestrels which reared their young in an outdoor 

 aviary, and were eventually allowed their freedom. 



That this hawk is migratory is shown by its 

 occasionally perching on the rigging of ships at 

 sea, sometimes at a considerable distance from land. 

 During a fog in the autumn of 1891, a steamer in 

 the Baltic, bound for Newcastle, was boarded by a 

 number of Kestrels. They were either so exhausted, 

 or so stupefied by the fog, that a great many were 

 captured, and on the arrival of the vessel at New- 

 castle nine of them were taken alive to the Museum. 



In 1865 Mr. Howlett, the birdstuffer at New- 

 market, had a white Kestrel, which was shot that 

 year on Newmarket Heath. 



SPARROW-HAWK. Accipiter nisus (Linnseus). PI. 2, 

 figs. 11, 12, 12a. Length, $ 13 in., $ 15-5 in. ; wing, 

 $ 8 in., $ 9-5 in. ; tarsus, $ 2-3 in., $ 2-5 in. 



Resident, and generally distributed, although 

 annually becoming rarer in consequence of the 

 numbers shot and trapped b}' gamekeepers. So 

 far as my experience goes., the Sparrow -Hawk 

 generally builds a nest for itself; but sometimes 

 takes possession of the deserted nest of another 

 species, usually that of a Crow, Magpie, or Wood 

 Pigeon, if placed at a sufficient height. The adult 



