156 DESTRUCTIVE INSECTS OF VICTORIA: 



coverts; the scapularies irregularly barred with same, 

 and the tail with an irregular band near the extremity ; 

 throat, vent, and under tail coverts white ; remainder of 

 the under surface reddish-buff, with a stripe of brown 

 down the centre of each feather. ' ' 



The subject of this chapter is fairly common in many 

 parts of Victoria, feeding chiefly upon insects, such as 

 grasshoppers, crickets, grubs, beetles, etc. As a rule, 

 this hawk does not attack birds, but is a deadly enemy 

 of mice, which latter beast it destroys in large numbers. 

 Mr. A. J. Campbell, in his valuable work on the 

 * * JVests and Eggs of Australian Birds, ' ' says that the 

 Kestrel also destroys small snakes, and justly adds : 

 'Who would kill a bird of such usefulness?" To 

 those who know but little of bird life, the Kestrel may 

 be known by its color ; also by its small size, as compared 

 with other hawks the sparrow-hawk, a courageous little 

 brute, of course except ed the specimen in the office 

 collection being thirteen inches from tip of bill to tip of 

 tail. The flight of this bird, except when hunting, is 

 buoyant, easy, and graceful, with occasional darts forward 

 when in pursuit of its prey. This bird appears to like 

 level or ' ' plain ' ' country, interspersed with light 

 timber; but also frequents bare plains on which not 

 a single tree exists, such, for example, as the Keilor 

 Plains, near Melbourne. 



In the early fifties, travellers from Melbourne to 

 Bendigo were accustomed to see great numbers of these 

 birds, sometimes soaring to a great height, and, at 

 intervals, descending with a rapid skimming flight ; 

 and, in those days, I have frequently seen them settling 

 on the ground, and so filling themselves with insects 

 which were then plentiful as to be able to rise only 

 with difficulty. Matters nowadays have vastly changed, 

 the wretched " pot-shotter " having killed off thousands 

 of these and other useful birds of old colonial days. 



The Nankeen Kestrel builds its nest of branches of 

 trees, and this is lined with smaller twigs, grasses, etc., 



