80 Falconidce. 



(i.e., monotonous) note.' And Harting says that the name 

 ' kestrel ' signifies the peasant's (or serving-man's) hawk; coistrel, 

 perhaps from the Latin coterellus. Shakespeare mentions 

 ' coystril ' in Twelfth Night [Act I., Scene 3], and ' coystrel ' in 

 Pericles [Act IV., Scene 6]. In olden time a hawk's nest was 

 protected by laws enacted in the reigns of King John, Edward III., 

 Henry VIII., and Elizabeth ; and indeed the kestrel and the 

 barn owl are the greatest destroyers of mice, both the ' long- 

 tail'd field mouse ' (Mus sylvaticus) and the common ' meadow 

 mouse ' (Arvicola agrestis)* The Kestrel in this country 

 generally makes use of a crow's nest for breeding purposes ; but 

 Mr. F. Stratton reported to me that on one occasion he dis- 

 covered that it had taken possession of a hen's nest, which was 

 placed in a trough only six feet from the ground, and had 

 deposited five ruddy eggs in this singular nursery. This was in 

 1877, at Gore Cross Farm, in the parish of Market Lavington. 



Like many other species of the true falcons, it prefers adopting 

 the deserted nest of the magpie, or other large bird, to building 

 a nursery for itself. Though some may always be seen, Mr. 

 Waterton (who had a great liking for this hawk, and has defended 

 it most perseveringly in his charming ' Essays on Natural 

 History ') expresses his conviction that by far the greater part 

 migrate in autumn to more southern lands; and in this he is 

 fully supported by Mr. Knox, who has bestowed much attention 

 on the point, and, dwelling on the coast of Sussex, has had 

 admirable opportunities for observing the migration of birds.f 



This closes the list of the true Falcons, which have always been 

 considered as more ' noble ' than the others. We now come to 

 other genera, and we shall see that their habits, as well as their 

 make, differ in many respects from the above. 



9. GOSHAWK (Astur palumbarius). 



I introduce the goshawk as a bird of Wilts on the authority of 

 the Rev. A. P. Morres. who gives good and substantial evidence 

 from the mouth of Captain Dugmore, a gentleman who seems 



* ' Sketches of Bird Life,' p. 9. f Birds of Sussex/ pp. 5264. 



