Birds. 9625 



Notice.— My readers will scarcely fail to observe that a large portion of the present 

 number, concluding with " Insects," p. 9641, consists of the overflowings of No. 285. 

 I trust to be able to publish a double number early in the autumn, and thus bring up 

 ariears. — Edward Newman. 



Peregrine Falcon breeding on the Antrim Coast. — I have much pleasure in observing 

 that the perej;rine filcon breeds along this coast. I was present at the taking of a nest 

 on the 24th of May: the nest was obtained by lowering a person down the rock by 

 means of a rope; it contained three young falcons, about eight days old. The nest 

 was composed of feathers only, and in close vicinity with jackdaws, hooded crows and 

 swifts. The old birds hovered over our heads, uttering a most peculiar cry, but kept 

 at a sufficient distance to defy the skill of the gunners awaiting them. — Thomas 

 Brunton ; Glenarm Castle, Lame, County Antrim, Ireland, June 6, 18(55. 



Hobby feeding on Beetles.— On the 24th of May, at Mappowder, Dorsetshire, 

 I obtained a tine male hobby, in ibe flesh. Oo opening the maw, after skinning it, 

 I found the remains of insects solely. A female kestrel, examined the same day, con- 

 tained a longtailed field mouse.— FF. Jesse, jun.; Maisonette, Ingalestone, Essex, 

 June 8, 1865. 



Note on the Kestrel. — If you look at a kestrel when in the act of hovering you will 

 observe that the wings are expanded to their full extent, the tail is spread and bent 

 slightly downwards, the head is also bent a little downwards, so that the head 

 and body with the tail form a kind of arch: this position, together with the 

 power it possesses of inflating itself, enables it to poise almost motionless in 

 the air for several seconds logeiher. It is not perhaps generally known that 

 the kestrel while hovering has its bill wide open, and its throat and breast per- 

 ceptibly distended : I have good opportunities of observing this in a tame kestrel, 

 which lives in an aviary, into which one of the windows of my drawing-room opens. 

 I have frequently seen her hovering in the aviary, as if for the sake of practising her 

 powers, and as she is very tame and sociable, and thinks it a great privilege to be 

 allowed to come into the dining-room, she is sometimes permitted to do so: on one 

 occasion, a short time since, after hovering for a second or two over the table, she made 

 a sudden swoop into the plate of one of my children and carried off the leg of a rabbit, 

 which she bore in triun)ph into a corner, where she devoured it at her leisure. — 

 H. T. M. Kir by ; May field Vicarage, Sussex, May lit, IS65. 



Remarkable Preservation of Robin's Eggs. — Early in April a young neighbour 

 brought me a nest containing three out of four eggs, which he had found in a sheltered 

 situation. Surprised to find eg-s so dirty, rather than at eggs at all in an old nest, 

 the lad examined the contents of one, which proved to be completely dried up. Con- 

 sidering that they must have lain here, at least, since June of last year, or possibly of 

 the previous one, their comparative freshness of colouring is remarkable : when freshly. 

 laid they must have been more richly coloured than usual, the blotches of red-brown 

 being larger than I ever noticed in this species, although the neighbourhood is 

 peculiarly rich in varieties of robin's eggs.— H. Ecroyd Smith ; Egremnnt, Birken- 

 head. 



Singular Position of a Robin's Nest.— A young friend of mine the other day was 



crossing a small piece of waste ground near his residence, when, tripped up by a branch 



of gorse, his foot came in contact with a broken and discarded flower-pot, whence, on 



the instant, out flew a robin. Inside was found its nest containing six eggs, and, the 



VOL. XXIII. 2 I 



