THE BIRDS OF ION A AND MULL. 211 



among the hoodie crows, who leave their search for shell-fish, &c., 

 among the rocks, to follow the nobler rogue with their vulgar uproar, 

 and as the word is passed along the beach, the mob increases in 

 numbers and audacity till the falcon is fairly rabbled out of their 

 district. A peregrine who had just struck a red-legged crow was 

 thus assailed and so distracted by their unusual pertinacity (probably 

 on account of the red-leg being one of their cloth), that I walked up 

 and shot him in mid-air, holding his prey in one claw, while the other 

 was held ready to give the death-blow to any assailant should he 

 venture within reach of his grip, which they took very good care 

 not to do. Colquhoun, in his Moor and Loch, mentions seeing a 

 peregrine's nest on the Bass Rock \ and St John, in his Tour in 

 Sutherlandshire, states that he got some eggs at Inchnadamph. He 

 also adds, apropos of eggs, the following pertinent remarks (page 1 4) : 

 " I found that all the shepherds, gamekeepers, and others in this 

 remote part of the kingdom had already ascertained the value of this 

 and other rare birds' eggs, and were as eager to search for them, and 

 as loth to part with them (excepting at a very high price) as love of 

 gain could make them, nor had they the least scruple in endeavouring 

 to impose eggs under fictitious names on any person wishing to 

 purchase such things. Indeed, I am very sure that many of the 

 eggs sold by London dealers are acquired in this way, and are not 

 in the least to be depended on as to their identity." 



THE KESTREL. 



This is by far the most abundant of the hawk tribe with us. 

 Its nest may be found in almost every precipitous sea cliff, which is 

 tenanted year after year if undisturbed. One pair made their nest 

 among the old cathedral ruins of lona, whose tower is peopled all the 

 year round by a colony of jackdaws ; and that these jealous republicans 

 allowed them to do so is proof enough that they had nothing to appre- 

 hend either on their own account or on that of their nestlings. It is 

 generally admitted that the kestrel does more good than harm, prey- 

 ing upon mice and not destroying game : it is a pity therefore that 

 ignorant gamekeepers persist in destroying it, for the "windhover" 

 poised in the air as if nailed against the sky is a rural sight dear to 

 our boyhood, and not unnoticed by the poets. The young kestrel 



