166 WOODLAND CREATURES 



tired of doing " sentry go/' for as I watched he 

 began playing antics in the air. He made steep 

 dives, flew up again, and then with a queer little 

 cry flung himself sideways, so that he turned over 

 on his back, in which position he glided for a 

 moment before righting himself and flying on 

 to repeat the trick a few yards beyond. After 

 side-rolling some half-dozen times he gave a 

 harsh croak and resumed his flight backwards 

 and forwards, going first one way and then the 

 other like a policeman on his beat. 



The kestrel's exhibition, though charming to 

 watch, cannot show any sensational feats to 

 equal that of the old raven. All the same, this 

 hawk is an expert on the wing, as its everyday 

 performance of hanging stationary in the air 

 shows. A noticeable peculiarity of this, and 

 some other hawks, is that when flying to a perch 

 it does not go straight to the bough, but approaches 

 from below it, shoots up into the air, and then 

 drops on to the branch. 



Like most birds of prey, the innocent kestrel 

 often comes to grief at the gamekeeper's hands, 

 or rather gun, and one will find it hanging from 

 his gibbet, in company with crows, sparrow hawks, 

 magpies, and other creatures that he has much 

 more justification for killing. But many en- 

 lightened keepers now realize that in this small 

 hawk they have an ally, not a foe, and spare it 

 accordingly, for, as already indicated, mice form 

 the greater part of its diet, particularly meadow 

 voles, and next long-tailed mice and bank voles. 



