24 FALCONID.E. 



for at that slight elevation its keen eye would detect the 

 movement of a bird at a mere glance ; nor has it the dash- 

 ing flight one would expect to see in a hunter after game 

 furnished with the same organs of motion as itself. But, 

 if intent on the capture of small animals which creep out 

 of holes in the earth and hunt for their food among the 

 grass, surely no method can be conceived of exploring the 

 field so quickly and so completely. The Kestril, then, 

 though stigmatized by gamekeepers with an evil name, 

 does not merit the reproaches heaped on it ; while to 

 the farmer it is an invaluable ally, destroying countless 

 beetles, the grubs of which would gnaw away the roots of 

 his crops ; caterpillars, which would devour the foliage ; 

 and, above all, mice, which would fatten on the grain. 

 For such food its appetite is enormous, and its stomach 

 capacious, an instance being recorded of a specimen having 

 been shot, the craw of which contained no less than seventy- 

 nine caterpillars, twenty-four beetles, a full-grown field 

 mouse, and a leech. To this varied bill of fare it adds, as 

 occasion offers, glow-worms, lizards, frogs, grasshoppers, 

 and earth-worms. In the winter, indeed, when these 

 animals have withdrawn to their retreats, it is compelled 

 by hunger to provide itself with what my 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. The skill with which it plucks the 

 feathers from birds before tearing them to pieces, cer- 

 tainly 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 Kestril. Thus, admitting, as we fear we must, 

 that if, while hovering for mice, it detects a young Part- 

 ridge in the hay- field, it is unable to withstand the 

 temptation of carrying it off as a delicate repast for its 



