260 THE WINDHOVER HAWK 



owls by night, to thin the swarms of mice which 

 over-run the land. 



As the windhovers make no nest, they are reduced 

 to the necessity of occupying, at second hand, that 

 of another bird. I once made the experiment to 

 try if a windhover would take possession of a nest 

 newly built ; and, in order to prepare the way, I 

 singled out the nest of a carrion crow. As soon as 

 the crow had laid her third egg, I ascended the 

 tree, and robbed the nest. In less than a week 

 after this, a pair of windhovers took to it; and they 

 reared a brood of young in its soft and woolly 

 hollow. 



The windhover is a social bird, and, unlike most 

 other hawks, it seems fond of taking up its abode 

 near the haunts of men. What heartfelt pleasure I 

 often experience in watching the evolutions of this 

 handsome little falcon ! and with what content I see 

 the crow and the magpie forming their own nests, as 

 I know that, on the return of another spring, these 

 very nests will afford shelter to the windhover. 

 Were I to allow the crow and the magpie to be per- 

 secuted, there would be no chance for the windhover 

 to rear its progeny here ; for Nature has not taught 

 this bird the art of making its nest in a tree. How 

 astonishing, and how diversified, are the habits of 

 birds ! The windhover is never known to make use 

 of a nest until it has been abandoned for good and 

 all by the rightful owner; whilst, on the contrary, 

 the cuckoo lays her egg in one of which the original 

 framer still retains possession. 



The windhover usually lays five eggs, and one of 



