260 THE WINDHOVER HAWK. 



owls by night, to thin the swarms of mice which 

 overrun the land. 



As the windhovers make no nest, they are reduced 

 to the necessity of occupying, at second hand, that 

 of another bird. I once made the experiment to 

 try if a windhover would take possession of a nest 

 newly built ; and, in order to prepare the way, I 

 singled out the nest of a carrion crow. As soon as 

 the crow had laid her third egg, I ascended the 

 tree, and robbed the nest. In less than a week 

 after this, a pair of windhovers took to it ; and they 

 reared a brood of young in its soft and woolly 

 hollow. 



The windhover is a social bird, and, unlike most 

 other hawks, it seems fond of taking up its abode 

 near the haunts of men. What heartfelt pleasure 

 I often experience in watching the evolutions of 

 this handsome little falcon ! and with what content I 

 see the crow and the magpie forming their own nests, 

 as I know that, on the return of another spring, these 

 very nests will afford shelter to the windhover. 

 Were I to allow the crow and the magpie to be per- 

 secuted, there would be no chance for the windhover 

 to rear its progeny here ; for Nature has not taught 

 this bird the art of making its nest in a tree. How 

 astonishing, and how diversified, are the habits of 

 birds ! The windhover is never known to make 

 use of a nest until it has been abandoned for good 

 and all by the rightful owner; whilst, on the con- 

 trary, the cuckoo lays her egg in one of which the 

 original framer still retains possession. 



The windhover usually lays five eggs, and one of 



