Robbers of the Air 



As a species the kestrel is very useful, for it preys 

 largely upon mice, voles and beetles, but occasionally 

 an individual will take to the destruction of young birds 

 and even adults of large size. I have more than once 

 seen a kestrel hover over a mother peewit and her brood 

 for a moment or two and then suddenly stoop and pick 

 up a downling and rise into the air with it, to the 

 great distress of the mother lapwing. In one case I 

 watched the robber attacked by a carrion crow that 

 emerged from a rocky ravine amongst the foothills of 

 Wild Boar Fell, in Westmorland. The two birds circled 

 round and round and rose higher and higher, but the 

 kestrel refused to give up its prey, and was finally 

 allowed to depart in peace by its sable pursuer. 



Not long ago a gentleman living just outside the 

 town of Omagh was astonished upon looking out of his 

 dining-room one morning to see a kestrel standing upon 

 the body of one of his fantail pigeons, which it had just 

 killed upon the lawn. Securing a gun he shot the 

 kestrel as it rose from the still warm body of its victim, 

 and thus assured himself of the identity of the murderer. 



The hobby is a migrant and a late breeder, to be 

 found mainly in the woods of southern England. It 

 arrives in May and takes its departure in the autumn to 

 spend the winter in sunny Africa. At first sight the 

 moustachial stripe on its face suggests a miniature pere- 

 grine, but here the similarity ends, for in size, habits 

 and colour members of the two species differ. 



I have watched hobbies feeding and at play for days 

 on end, but never saw one kill a bird of any kind. It 



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