BIRDS OF PREY 27 



suggests that the kestrel's original habit was to build a nest 

 for itself, like the sparrow-hawk, and that it first took 

 to using old crows' nests and then, in rocky situations, to 

 laying in holes in the rocks. Possibly the connecting link 

 between the nest in the tree-top and the hole was found in 

 the covered nest of the magpie, which is one of the kestrel's 

 favourite homes. It very seldom nests in holes in trees, 

 but when the country is wooded, looks out for the nest of 

 another large bird. So far as its nesting habits are con- 

 cerned, it is to be feared that the kestrel is rather a degen- 

 erate hawk. The energy of the species seems to have been 

 concentrated on the perfection of its beautiful habit of hunt- 

 ing, which has given it the name of wind-hover. Most birds 

 which are good soarers can hang almost motionless in the air 

 at times, when the air current is light and of even strength ; 

 but the kestrel can moor itself, as it were, at a fixed point by 

 rapid beatings, and maintain its position against a strong 

 breeze. The amount of effort required to hold its own in 

 this way is indicated by the sudden freedom of the movement, 

 as of a spring released, with which it glances sideways into 

 the wind at the end of one of these periods of hovering. It 

 comes round on its curve like a skater on his edge, and takes 

 up a fresh position over another part of the field. It is 

 equally attractive to watch it catch sight of its prey in the 

 midst of its hovering, and sink swiftly to the ground beneath 

 it for the strike. Often the game eludes it, and it returns 

 again to its work of hovering and wavering ; at other times 

 we see it rise again with its prey in its hanging claws, and 

 make off to a secure spot to devour it. Kestrels, like 

 buzzards and most of the larger hawks, have often some con- 

 spicuous knoll or rock where they make their meals with a 

 clear view over the country round. The fragments of the 

 feast, and the castings thrown up by the bird as they sit and 



