162 WOODLAND CREATURES 



old and new, of hawks, squirrels, and wood- 

 pigeons, when the question is, which are the 

 kestrels using ? Sometimes there will be a feather, 

 a scrap of down, or some other slight indication 

 which will betray the occupied nest, but more 

 often you have to climb up and look into several 

 nests before you find which one the birds have 

 taken possession of. Up in the higher stories of 

 the woodland world, whence you look down into 

 a sea of greenery, in which hazel bushes, brambles, 

 ferns, and the moss-covered soil become merged 

 in one another, you will come to a platform of 

 twigs with a slight central depression, wherein 

 rest half a dozen rich red eggs. On close exami- 

 nation it will be seen that the eggs are a light 

 red-brown heavily blotched with dark brown, 

 but they vary much, some being merely speckled 

 with the darker colour ; however, the general 

 colour scheme is always adhered to, and they 

 give one at a casual glance the idea of being 

 a somewhat dark rich brick-red in tint. 



Six is the average clutch, more or less being 

 unusual. How far the ready-made nest is altered, 

 added to, or repaired, I am unable to say, but 

 my opinion is that very little is done, for one 

 cannot find any signs of it, and when these birds 

 nest, as they do now and again, in a hollow tree, 

 you find the eggs resting on the wood chips and 

 crumbled rubbish that one always meets with 

 in old hollow trees. Moreover, when, in the open 

 country, they resort to a ledge in a crag or on 

 a cliff, they waste little time in building. After 



