168 WOODLAND CREATURES 



be due to confusion with a raiding sparrow 

 hawk. 



As in its nest building, or rather in its neglect 

 to build a nest, so in its hunting, the kestrel is a 

 lazy bird, and if it does not succeed in capturing 

 its quarry when it drops upon it, rarely exerts 

 itself to chase it, which is, I believe, the reason 

 it seldom takes winged quarry. It is only an 

 exceptional kestrel which has the energy to indulge 

 in a chase, though with its long pointed wings 

 it should have speed enough to overtake any- 

 thing within reason. In shape and build it is 

 not unlike its relative the hobby, an uncommon 

 and most beautiful little hawk, which is very 

 quick on the wing, flying so rapidly indeed that 

 it has been known to overtake a swift in fair 

 chase ! x 



It was owing to its lazy temperament that the 

 kestrel was so despised in the times when the 

 training of hawks was a fine art, for not even the 

 experts of Tudor and Elizabethan days could 

 make anything of this easygoing bird, so it was 

 known as the poor man's hawk, for no one who 

 could afford anything better would trouble with 

 such a useless creature. Yet this very easy- 

 going disposition makes the kestrel a delightful 

 pet, as it soon becomes perfectly tame ; indeed, 

 a more confiding creature it would be difficult 

 to find that is, as soon as it has got over its first 

 fright at finding itself near human beings. As 

 an instance take the case of an old female that 



The Rev. J. G. Cornish, Wild Life. vol. vii, p. 12. 



