THE KESTREL OR WINDHOVER. 51 



LETTER V. 



" Sufferance is the badge of all our tribe." 



MERCHANT OF VENICE. 



The Kestrel or Windhover Its unmerited Persecution 

 Destructive to four-footed Vermin, Reptiles, &c. 

 Seizure and Execution of a Rat Serpent-killer Mr. 

 Waterton on the Migration of the Windhover Pro- 

 blem and attempted Solution Distribution of the 

 Kestrel Periodical appearance " en potence " in Au- 

 tumn Probable Cause Commissariat Department 

 Reappearance of considerable numbers in Spring. 



OF the various birds which figure undeservedly 

 on the black list of the gamekeeper, there is none 



power of relaxing his hold of his slippery prey will be fa- 

 miliar to all who have read Wilson's graphic account of his 

 habits in America. There the white-headed or bald eagle, 

 as partial to fish as the poor osprey, but too lazy to forage 

 for himself, sits patiently on the bough of some gigantic 

 tree commanding a view of the ocean, and when the osprey 

 rises from the surface with a prize, he instantly gives 

 chace, and frequently compels him to relinquish it. 



D2 



