210 KESTREL, 



be regarded as the farmer's friend. But, no I it is 

 credited with occasionally helping itself to a young 

 Partridge when food is scarce, so down it must come 

 whenever seen. 



No doubt many of us have watched this bird ; pro* 

 bably, when first noticed, it was poised in the air, with 

 its wings fully expanded ; then, with a flap or two of 

 its wings, it has darted oft ; but, suddenly stopping, it 

 has hovered again in the air ; yet only for a moment, 

 for, closing its wings, it drops almost like a stone, till 

 within a short distance of the ground, when it stretches 

 out its wings, hovering for a second or so, and is lost 

 to our view ; but almost immediately it rises again and 

 flies away. Why this sudden descent ? Doubtless 

 the bird, when hovering in the air, espied a mouse or 

 some small animal on the ground and took the quickest 

 mode of reaching it. 



As with the preceding members of this family, the 

 female always exceeds the male in size and strength, 

 though the male has the advantage in beauty of 

 plumage. The latter may be easily distinguished by 

 its slate grey tail. The head and back are of the same 

 colour, the rest of the upper parts a light chestnut ; 

 the under parts are pale fawn colour, spotted with 

 dusky marks. 



The Kestrel generally nests in a thick wood or copse. 

 Its eggs may be looked for with the month of May. 

 Near us it usually adopts the old nest of a Crow or 

 Magpie, which it lines with mud. Often the nest 

 is comparatively low down, and I have found eggs 

 within ten feet of the ground in an old squirrel's drey. 

 The same place is frequently resorted to year after 

 year, and it is supposed that the Kestrel pairs for 

 life. 



