VOL. XIV.] BREEDING OF LESSER KESTREL. 171 



man to understand ; but anyhow, the hawks showed more 

 spirit in contesting the claims of the Jackdaws than any of 

 the other birds had seemed to do, and in two days after their 

 arrival they had established a firm claim to a suitable hole 

 under the low roof of a long mud-built hut which was being 

 used by troops as a stable for mules. 



The entrance to this nesting place was about six feet from 

 the ground, and very conspicuous by reason of the white 

 splashes of excrement that marked it. Every time the birds 

 entered the hole they had to swoop within a few inches of 

 the mules' tails. Transport drivers were constantly at work 

 within a few feet of this nesting site, grooming mules and 

 saddle cleaning, and usually singing and shouting about their 

 work. Mules, too, are not quiet creatures to live with ornear. 

 The Kestrels, however, soon became very confiding, and would 

 sit about the low fig-trees growing near their home and allow 

 a very close approach. It was then that one could see the 

 pink flushed breast of the male, which is so very much more 

 evident in a live bird than in the newest of skins. 



Shortly after this pair of birds had settled down to a more 

 or less peaceful existence, another pair of Kestrels arrived 

 in the district and duly contested their right to live with the 

 quarrelsome Jackdaws. This pair were not quite so successful 

 in their campaign, and eventually had to settle down under 

 the low roof of another native hovel about sixty yards from 

 the mosque. The two pairs of hawks agreed remarkably 

 well and frequently combined forces to repel the Jackdaws. 

 Several other pairs soon appeared in the village and its 

 environs, and by March 24th I was aware of six intending 

 nests within a short radius of the mosque. All of these were 

 under the tiled roofs of native houses and entered by a hole 

 in the eaves. In most cases the nest was well under the roof 

 and beyond reach from the outside, but once I found eggs 

 almost on top of the wall, i.e., just under the eaves, and later 

 heard of other similar cases. 



One pair of birds were unfortunate in their choice of a 

 site. They chose a space between the low roof of a room — 

 being used as a bedroom — and the tiles. Prodigious scratch- 

 ing and scrambling noises through the night proved too 

 much for the nerves of the occupant of the room, and thinking 

 that the season was not sufficiently advanced to prevent the 

 birds from choosing another home, under some other person's 

 roof for preference, he blocked up the entra:;ce hole of the 

 nest with a large clod of earth. As he had surmised, the 

 Kestrels soon established themselves in a neighbouring 



