MR. WATERTON ON THE WINDHOVER. 55 



opposite side, near a large wood, in the recesses 

 of which she could continue her repast without 

 further interruption. 



You will perhaps think that I have described 

 this little incident with unnecessary minuteness: 

 I had two reasons for recording these apparently 

 trifling details : it was the first instance I had met 

 with of any raptorial bird relaxing its grasp of the 

 quarry, and even quitting it, before life was ex- 

 tinct; and it serves to prove that, besides being 

 an efficient destroyer of mice, the kestrel is also 

 a check upon that most odious of all four-footed 

 vermin, the rat. 



Ornithologists are aware that the slow-worm 

 (Anguis fragilis) is constantly devoured by this 

 hawk, but it has even stronger claims to the title 

 of " serpent-killer." A specimen was shot in this 

 neighbourhood in the act of killing a large adder : 

 the bird and reptile are both in my collection. 



The perusal of Mr. Waterton's interesting re- 

 marks on the windhover in Yorkshire has induced 

 me to pay increased attention to its migration in 

 Sussex. It occurrred to me that a careful observa-* 

 tion of its habits and distribution in different parts 

 of this southern county, during the various sea- 

 sons of the year, might tend perhaps in con- 

 nexion with what he had written on the subject 



