10 



since a writer in a well-known and mueli-read paper boasted 

 tliat he had shot several hen Kestrels, into whose very 

 nests he could see. 



These birds have to breed in deserted nests of magpies, 

 crows, and other birds in onr neighbourhood, as there are no 

 ruins or cliffs such as thej delight in. I fancy, however, 

 that they do not always wait till their predecessors have 

 quitted any nest, which they may fancy, as the following 

 anecdote will show : — 



In a certain oak tree near the village of Chisledon was a 

 nest of the common Carrion Crow, from which a companion 

 of mine had already taken a couple of eggs, leaving the 

 rest. As we were walking under it one day we heard a 

 noise overhead, and on looking up beheld a. fierce conflict 

 between the Crows and a pair of Kestrels. The fight must 

 have lasted nearly half-an-hour since we first noticed it, 

 when the Kestrels proved victorious and drove away the 

 poor owners of the nest. On visiting the nest some weeks 

 afterwards, we found four hard-set Hawks' eggs, while 

 those of the Crows had totally disappeared. 



Two pure white varieties of the egg of this bird have 

 been taken from two distinct nests. 



Accipiter Nisus. 



Sjljarrow Hawk. 



EGG OBSERVED. 



April 26th, 1865. 

 April 12th, 1866. 

 May 9th, 1868. 

 April 29th, 1869. 

 1870. 



