THE SPARROWHAWK 85 



140 the kestrel is inclined to the rule of Live and let live, 

 and, unless necessity demands it, spares the life of 

 the little bird which may often be seen disporting 

 without dread and unmolested in his near neighbour- 

 hood. Instances, indeed, are not so very rare of the 

 kestrel's nest being found on the same spreading tree 

 on the lower branches of which woodpecker, starling, 

 or even pigeon finds a safe abode. 



The tribute which the kestrel claims from earth and The 

 air is no loss to man, lord or loon. On the contrary, 



150 it is levied at the expense of the petty foes that carry 

 on a secret and insidious warfare against the wealth 

 and welfare of man the inimical, innumerable micro- 

 scopic pests of field and farm, difficult from their very 

 diminutiveness to cope with. His friendly alliance to 

 the interests of man, long unknown, is now pretty 

 generally acknowledged. It is only by a narrowing 

 circle of gamekeepers that the acknowledgement is 

 withheld. Let us look at the kestrel's menu. The 

 female kestrel (which, by the way, is larger about 



loo three inches longer than the male) takes insects, 

 upon which her young (almost till they can help 

 themselves) are very largely fed. Both male and 

 female take small birds, such as the farmer can well 

 spare when the barley is ripening and the oats are 

 mature ; but their chief food is lifted from the ground, 

 in the form of destructive beetles, adders which sting 

 the sheep, rats, and especially field-mice and voles 

 which, if unchecked, are capable of devastating whole 

 parishes. Altogether, the occasional conveyance of a 



170 young pheasant, or a chicken, so fresh from the shell 

 as to be scarcely conscious of its privileges above 

 those of a bunting, may easily count for a friendly 



