164 THE KESTREL 
readers would consider more palatable food; for now it preys on 
any birds which it is swift enough to overtake, and strong enough to 
master. Theskill with which it plucks the feathers from birds before 
tearing them to pieces, certainly argues in favour of the theory that 
a bird-diet is not unnatural to it, or, that the habit, if an acquired 
one, came to an apt learner. But in autumn and winter, game- 
birds are fully fledged and being quite able to take care of themselves 
are by no means liable to fall a prey to the Kestrel. Thus, admitting, 
as we fear we must, that if, while hovering for mice, it detects a 
young Partridge in the hay-field, it is unable to withstand the 
temptation of carrying it off as a delicate repast for its young, 
yet an occasional trespass of this kind far from counterbalances 
the advantages it confers as a consistent destroyer of vermin. 
The Kestrel appears to be generally distributed over the country, 
showing no marked predilection for upland or lowland, heath or 
marsh. It is very frequently seen near the sea-coast, to which in 
winter it habitually resorts, finding there, no doubt, greater facilities 
for obtaining food. Like others of its tribe, it possesses little archi- 
tectural skill, placing its nest in a hole in a cliff, in ruins, or on lofty 
trees, often appropriating the deserted dwelling of some more indus- 
trious builder than itself. On the Continent it resorts to buildings 
in towns and cities, as, for instance, the Louvre in Paris, and the 
towers of cathedrals. During summer it hawks principally in 
the gardens and orchards near the town, and when harvest is gathered 
in, repairs to the corn-fields to hunt for mice among the stubble. 
When taken young from the nest, it is easily tamed, and becomes 
one of the most amusing of pets. Even after being fully fledged 
and allowed its liberty, it will remain in the neighbourhood of the 
place where it was reared, coming regularly to be fed, and recogniz- 
ing the presence of its master by repeating its wild note, klee, klee, 
klee, and flying to meet him. An anecdote is recorded in the Zoo- 
logist of a male Kestrel having, in the second year of his domestica- 
tion, induced a female bird to join him in his half-civilized life, and 
to assist him in rearing a joint family. ‘ Billy’ still continued to 
make himself quite at home at the house where he was brought up, 
coming fearlessly into the nursery and making friends with the 
children ; but his mate never threw off her wild nature so far as to 
do this, contenting herself with waiting outside, and asserting her 
right to her fair share of whatever food he brought out. Tame 
Kestrels have been observed to have the habit of hiding their food 
when supplied with more than they can consume at the time. 
I have often noticed, too, in the case of tame Kestrels, that the 
Chaffinches and other small birds which frequent gardens show no 
instinctive dread of them, as if they were their natural enemies, 
but perch on the same tree with them, fearless and unnoticed. 
The Kestrel was formerly trained to hunt small birds, and in 
the court of Louis XIII was taught to hawk for Bats. 
