BIRDS OF PREY. 29 
a foe to the woedpigeon, preferring it to any other 
quarry. During the first week in the present year (1869) 
a flock of these birds passed over Barnet, which was 
estimated to be a mile long, and to contain from 8000 
to 10,000 in number. 
The sparrowhawk is not such an abundant species as 
the kestrel, though still very common. It has always 
struck me that the females are much more numerous 
than the males, though I am uncertain if it is not more 
apparent than real, the greater boldness and spirit of 
the former bringing them more frequently into notice. 
The Goshawk (#. palumbarius), rare in Scotland, 
though said to be resident there, is still rarer in England. 
I never saw the bird on the wing, and only once in the 
flesh, and we seem to know very little of its life history. 
Rare as it is, a single specimen was killed by one of the 
keepers near Rufford in 1848, being the only instance I 
have known of its occurrence, and I am thus able to add 
it to my list. 
The Kite (Milvus regalis) is now with us, as it is 
elsewhere in England, a comparatively rare bird ; I have 
noted several instances of its occurrence of late years, 
two coming under my own immediate observation, and 
one of these under circumstances of much interest. I 
was riding on horseback over the forest between Ollerton 
and Budby, where it is open and heathy. On a strip of 
greensward, bounding the unenclosed road by which I 
was proceeding, a brace of partridges were busy search- 
ing some droppings of dung. I had approached them 
within about some fifteen yards, when a kite glided 
across in front of me, and made a swoop at the par- 
tridges on the ground ; but, whether his aim had been 
rendered unsteady by my close approach or not, he 
