CHAPTER ELEVEN BIRDS OF PREY 



The kestrel breeds commonly with us about the banks 

 of the river, or in an old crow's nest. This is a very beauti- 

 fully marked hawk, and I believe does much more good 

 than harm. Though occasionally depriving us of some of 

 our lesser singing birds, this hawk feeds principally, and 

 indeed almost wholly, on mice. Any person who knows 

 a kestrel-hawk by sight must have constantly observed 

 them hovering nearly stationary in the air, above a grass- 

 field, watching for the exit from its hole of some unfortun- 

 ate field-mouse. When feeding their young, a pair of kes- 

 trels destroy an immense number of these mischievous 

 little quadrupeds, which are evidently the favourite food 

 of these birds. Being convinced of their great utility in this 

 respect, I never shoot at, or disturb a kestrel. It is imposs- 

 ible, however, to persuade a gamekeeper that any bird 

 called a hawk can be harmless; much less can one per- 

 suade so opinionated and conceited a personage (as most 

 keepers are) that a hawk can be useful; therefore the poor 

 kestrel generally occupies a prominent place amongst the 

 rows of bipeds and quadrupeds nailed on the kennel, or 

 wherever else those trophies of his skill are exhibited. It 

 is a timid and shy kind of hawk, and therefore very difl[i- 

 cult to tame, never having an appearance of contentment 

 or confidence in its master when kept in captivity. 



Another beautiful little hawk is common here in the 

 winter, the merlin.* This bird visits us about October, 

 and leaves us in the spring. Scarcely larger than a thrush, 

 the courageous little fellow glides with the rapidity of 



*The merlin (Fako cesalon) and the hobby {Falco siib-bideo) are not hawks, but true 

 falcons, distinguished from others of the Order Accipitres by the notch or tooth in the 

 bill, by the dark iris and by the second primary feather of the wing being longest. — Ed. 

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