164 THE KESTREL 



readers would consider more palatable food ; for now It preys on 

 any birds which it is swift enough to overtake, and strong enough to 

 master. The skill with which it plucks the feathers from birds before 

 tearing them to pieces, certainly argues in favour of the theory that 

 a bird-diet is not unnatural to it, or, that the habit, if an acquired 

 one, came to an apt learner. But in autumn and winter, game- 

 birds are fully fledged and being quite able to take care of themselves 

 are by no means liable to fall a prey to the Kestrel. Thus, admitting, 

 as we fear we must, that if, while hovering for mice, it detects a 

 young Partridge in the hay-field, it is unable to withstand the 

 temptation of carrying it off as a delicate repast for its young, 

 yet an occasional trespass of this kind far from counterbalances 

 the advantages it confers as a consistent destroyer of vermin. 



The Kestrel appears to be generally distributed over the country, 

 showing no marked predilection for upland or lowland, heath or 

 marsh. It is very frequently seen near the sea-coast, to which in 

 winter it habitually resorts, finding there, no doubt, greater facilities 

 for obtaining food. Like others of its tribe, it possesses little archi- 

 tectural skill, placing its nest in a hole in a cliff, in ruins, or on lofty 

 trees, often appropriating the deserted dwelling of some more indus- 

 trious builder than itself. On the Continent it resorts to buildings 

 in towns and cities, as, for instance, the Louvre in Paris, and the 

 towers of cathedrals. During summer it hawks principally in 

 the gardens and orchards near the town, and when harvest is gathered 

 in, repairs to the corn-fields to hunt for mice among the stubble. 

 When taken young from the nest, it is easily tamed, and becomes 

 one of the most amusing of pets. Even after being fully fledged 

 and allowed its liberty, it will remain in the neighbourhood of the 

 place where it was reared, coming regularly to be fed, and recogniz- 

 ing the presence of its master by repeating its wild note, klee, klee, 

 klee, and flying to meet him. An anecdote is recorded in the Zoo- 

 logist of a male Kestrel having, in the second year of his domestica- 

 tion, induced a female bird to join him in his half-civilized life, and 

 to assist him in rearing a joint family. ' Billy ' still continued to 

 make himself quite at home at the house where he was brought up, 

 coming fearlessly into the nursery and making friends with the 

 children ; but his mate never threw off her wild nature so far as to 

 do this, contenting herself with waiting outside, and asserting her 

 right to her fair share of whatever food he brought out. Tame 

 Kestrels have been observed to have the habit of hiding their food 

 when supplied with more than they can consume at the time. 

 I have often noticed, too, in the case of tame Kestrels, that the 

 Chaffinches and other small birds which frequent gardens show no 

 instinctive dread of them, as if they were their natural enemies, 

 but perch on the same tree with them, fearless and unnoticed. 



The Kestrel was formerly trained to hunt small birds, and in 

 the court of Louis XIII was taught to hawk for Bats. 



