278 RURAL BIRD LIFE. 



we find its eggs in rocks, or even in old barns and 

 church steeples, but the eggs invariably lie upon a bed 

 of pellets, or upon what materials chance may have 

 placed there. But we shall see how Nature usually 

 provides the Kestrel with a nest. The Kestrel of the 

 woodlands repairs to the old abode of the Carrion Crow 

 or Magpie for its purpose. In yonder oak tree is a 

 Magpie's nest, which a pair of Kestrels have now in- 

 habited for two seasons past : let us examine it closely. 

 We find upon climbing the tree that the Magpie's nest 

 has undergone a transformation ; but whether from 

 accident or design I know not. But certain it is all 

 Kestrels' nests I have examined have been destitute 

 of the fibrous rooty lining peculiar to a perfect Magpie's 

 nest. Mayhap the Kestrels remove the lining, which no 

 doubt is full of filth and dirt, for the purpose of cleanli- 

 ness. The hard lining of mud therefore is the bed of the 

 Kestrel's first egg, but as the full number of eggs are 

 deposited, such an incredible number of pellets of the 

 refuse of the birds' food has accumulated, that the eggs 

 at last are on a lining of the softest texture. He who 

 would take the trouble to examine a Kestrel's nest in the 

 breeding season would become practically acquainted 

 with the bird's sovereign usefulness to the gardener and 

 agriculturist. 



We will now take a more careful view of the contents 

 of the nest. We find the eggs, six in number, sometimes 

 only four or five, most beautiful objects. Like the eggs 

 of Falcons in general, they are somewhat rounded and 

 very highly coloured, being of a dirty white ground 

 colour, blotched and spotted so thickly with deep 

 reddish-brown of different shades as to almost entirely 

 hide the ground colour. Many specimens are streaked 

 and spotted with dark brown, others are almost devoid 



