192 THE MOOR AND THE LOCH. 



twigs ? Immediately the four nests were emptied into 

 twig -circles at the foot of their respective trees, and the 

 traps set. 



On our return the same evening, the poor osprey widower 

 was fast in his trap, and next morning the female " hoodie " 

 of all four nests was in the same predicament. The traps 

 were reset, and the " he-ones " of two of the nests taken ; but 

 the other pair of males had been so scared at the plight of 

 their struggling mates, as to allow the young to perish rather 

 than venture to feed them. To obviate this, I have lately 

 adopted the plan of setting two circles of twigs, out of sight of 

 each other, and putting half the young in one circle and half 

 in the other. Should an old bird be trapped, I change the 

 young to a fresh circle of boughs a little way off. The sur- 

 viving old bird will readily come to the fresh-set circle, 

 although nothing would induce it to risk itself where it saw 

 its helpmate so mysteriously in grief. 



The familiar kestrel is equally well distributed in Bute as 

 on the mainland. Distinct in manners and habits from both 

 the falcons and the hawks, this bird is no less perfectly en- 

 dowed for the part assigned to it by Nature's law. Anchored 

 in the air by that power of wing peculiar to this day owl, it 

 plies the trade of mouse-hunting alike on the heathery hill or 

 on the cultivated field. Mice being most rife in the dusk, the 

 kestrel is the latest hunter of the hawks, and is of course 

 gifted with a larger eye to collect the last rays of failing light. 

 Although they have no objection to birds, when they can catch 

 them, and prowl all day to provide for their nestlings, I con- 

 sider kestrels less hurtful to game than the ivy-owl, which 

 flies entirely ly night ; and my opinion is borne out by the 

 feeding hoards of both when they have young. It is a fact 

 that kestrels have far less difficulty in providing their nest- 

 lings with a constant supply of field-mice than the brown owl 

 has ; and this is accounted for by the kestrel's power of wing, 

 which enables her to keep the air with the same ease as those 



