24 BIRD LIFE IN WILD WALES 



one as it hovers on trembling pinion over yonder 

 stubble, ever watchful for the slightest movement 

 beneath ; now it advances for a short distance, and 

 then to its hovering again. At last game is sighted 

 — probably a mouse — and with closed wings the 

 Kestrel drops like a stone, and, if carefully watched, 

 will in nine cases out of ten be seen to rise with 

 something in its talons. Yet, benefactor though it is, 

 it is none the less shot down, and is by far the com-., 

 monest Hawk we shall find amongst the mangled 

 remains on the old shed or tree which is utilised 

 as a gallows for furred and feathered depredators. 



This little Hawk is easily suited as to a nesting 

 site. In the Vale of Aylesbury, where we spent 

 many happy years of boyhood, it commonly enough 

 laid its eggs in some deserted Crow's or Magpie's 

 tenement (always removing the lining of roots in the 

 latter's before using it), or else on the basin-like top 

 of a lightning-stricken tree — a poplar for choice. 

 Where it cannot find suitable nests ^ hollows in trees 

 are called into requisition, whilst b\' the sea and in 

 the hill country ledges and holes in the cliffs are used. 



To show that the Kestrel will if necessary drive 

 out the rightful owners of a nest in order that it may 

 enjoy it itself, take the following extract from our 

 diary of 1898 : " In mid April we knew of a Carrion 

 Crow's nest containing eggs built in a large elm. We 

 likewise observed a pair of Kestrels frequenting its 

 immediate vicinity, and being suspicious of their 

 intentions, kept a sharp look-out both earl)' and late. 

 At last one morning, after the Crow had been incu- 



' Bromley, Kent, and its neighbourhood. 



