THE KESTREL. i 5 



however, to find an excuse, he said, scratching his 

 head, " Well, sir, it's a narsty floppin' thing !" 



But to return to the Kestrel. We have often 

 been asked how it is that Kestrels appear to be 

 so much more numerous in autumn than at any 

 other time of year. There are many ways of 

 accounting for this. Generally speaking, the ob- 

 servers are sportsmen, who cross the country more 

 frequently in the fall of the year, and therefore 

 notice the birds oftener. Then, again, by the time 

 that young Partridges are ready to fly, Kestrels are 

 strong on the wing, and for every pair seen in spring, 

 were it not for traps and guns, we may expect to 

 find six or seven birds in autumn, for this species 

 usually lays five eggs. But perhaps the best reason 

 is that the Kestrel is migratory in its habits. The 

 old birds move northward in spring, and return 

 southward in autumn, when their numbers are 

 reinforced by the young which have been hatched 

 in the meantime ; so that we see not only those 

 which have spent the summer in our own neigh- 

 bourhood, but numbers which have come from a 

 distance, and which are passing onwards, hunting 

 for food by the way. 



