FLOCKS OF BIRDS 25 



watched from the highway. In this hedge the first 

 nightingale of the year sings, beginning some two or 

 three days before the bird which comes to the bushes in 

 the gorse, which will presently be mentioned. 



It is, or rather was, a favourite meadow with the 

 partridges ; one summer there was, I think, a nest in or 

 near it, for I saw the birds there daily. But the next 

 year they were absent. One afternoon a brace of part- 

 ridges came over the hedge within a few inches of my 

 head; they had been flushed and frightened at some 

 distance, and came with the wind at a tremendous pace. 

 It is a habit with partridges to fly low, but just skimming 

 the tops of the hedges, and certainly, had they been 

 three inches lower, they must have taken my hat off. 

 The knowledge that partridges were often about there, 

 made me always glance into this field on passing it, long 

 after the nesting season was over. 



In October, as I looked as usual, a hawk flew between 

 the elms, and out into the centre of the meadow, with a 

 large object in his talons. He alighted in the middle, 

 so as to be as far as possible from either hedge, and no 

 doubt prepared to enjoy his quarry, when something 

 startled him, and he rose again. Then, as I got a better 

 view, I saw it was a rat he was carrying. The long body 

 of the animal was distinctly visible, and the tail depend- 

 ing, the hawk had it by the shoulders or head. Flying 

 without the least apparent effort, the bird cleared the elms, 

 and I lost sight of him beyond them. Now, the kestrel 

 is but a small bird, and taking into consideration the size 

 of the bird, and the weight of a rat, it seems as great a 

 feat in proportion as for an eagle to snatch up a lamb. 



Some distance up the road, and in the corner of an 

 arable field, there was a wheat rick which was threshed 

 and most of the straw carted away. But there still 



