THE KESTREL. 277 



also the hard horny covering of numerous beetles, 

 amongst which we notice one of the smallest species of 

 ladybirds. Many persons will perhaps be puzzled as to 

 where the bird finds these incredible numbers of mice, 

 for in a ramble over the fields not one will probably be 

 seen. The simple reason is this : the mouse is very quick 

 at hearing, and is out of sight long before the observer 

 reaches him ; but the Kestrel comes upon him from the 

 air so softly, that he is secured without even a chance of 

 escape. 



He who roams through our thickest woods just as 

 the trees are assuming their vernal garb will often hear a 

 chattering cry from some tree top— a cry, by the way, 

 not so discordant as that of the Magpie. 'Tis the 

 Kestrel calling to his mate, who is not far away, 

 probably in her nest in the Magpie's old abode in a 

 neighbouring tree. Before we notice the nesting habits 

 of the Kestrel, I would hazard a conjecture that these 

 birds pair for life. Every season, if not molested, the 

 Kestrels use the same tenement for their purpose. In 

 several instances coming before my own observation the 

 female bird has been destroyed, yet the solitary male 

 has found another mate, and returned by resistless im- 

 pulse to the old abode. The Kestrel has never yet 

 been known to make its nest in a tree. In a word, this 

 graceful little Falcon would be going against Nature's 

 unerring laws were it guilty of so doing. Therefore 

 when a writer informs us that the Kestrel builds its 

 nest in a tree, I know at once he is in error, and has 

 had but little experience with the nesting habits of the 

 bird ; or if his Kestrels build nests in trees they must 

 have conformed to these our present times of improve- 

 ment, for Kestrels in this part of the country follow the 

 old way of providing for the comforts of a family. True, 



