12 THE BIRDS OF RAINHAM. 



April came round and just before their departure, I 

 observed both of them sitting upon the same tree, one 

 on each side of it. 



KESTREL. 

 Falco tinnunculus^ Linn. 



The Kestrel I observe occasionally, they appear to 

 be not so common as they should be, I believe the 

 reason is, that owing to our " pop-gunners " in the 

 winter time, the poor Kestrel flying rather high and 

 always being in view, gets shot ; they seem to take 

 possession of an old Magpie's nest if possible, and to 

 breed near the outside of a wood. 



LESSER KESTREL. 

 Falco cenchris, Naumann. 



The reader may wonder how I became acquainted 

 with such a bird : my answer is, I saw one in the 

 Museum at Dover. What I am writing is about 

 another which I observed, exactly like it. The latter 

 end of March, 1882, a pair of Linnets appeared in my 

 garden as usual ; on the 3rd of April I saw a lump of 

 Linnet's feathers on my lawn, such as an inverted 

 tea-cup would cover, which must have been done by 

 some hawk. Having never seen the like before I was 

 much puzzled, however on the loth of April a hawk- 

 like chatter came issuing from a cluster of elm-trees 

 standing in the field beside my garden, when a beau- 



