FEATHERED OUTCASTS. 113 



his action in killing it by saying it is an ugly creature, 

 and no good to anybody ! But our keeper pockets the 

 Goatsucker and is off to the nearest wood. He has traps 

 set there and is anxious to visit them. His first is set in 

 the deserted nest of a Magpie, which a pair of Kestrels 

 have taken possession of, and the hen has already laid 

 her eggs. Before he reached the tree, he is aware that 

 this trap has been successful. High up in the branches, 

 hanging by one of its legs to the trap, the hen Kestrel is 

 struggling bravely for freedom ; the cock is soaring 

 round and round far up in the blue sky, mournfully 

 calling to his captive mate. The sad scene is soon 

 brought to a close. The agile keeper quickly mounts 

 the tree, and releases the poor bird hanging in the agony 

 of a broken leg. Knocking its head on the nearest 

 branch, he soon kills it and throws it to the ground. 

 Four of the six pretty eggs have been broken as the 

 parent struggled in the trap, which is carefully set again, 

 the keeper knowing full well that the cock will be taken 

 in the course of the day. The nest is full of pellets, and 

 the ground below the tree is scattered with more, all 

 cast up by the Kestrels, and containing the indigestible 

 portions of their food. What is the food of the Kestrel ? 

 Mice ; almost exclusively mice all the year round, varied 

 with coleopterous insects, each pellet containing the skin 

 and larger bones of several mice and the wing-cases of 

 insects. The Kestrel very rarely attacks birds, and 



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