2748 The Zoologist — September, 1871. 



rightful tenants while in possession. In Scotland, according to Macgillivray, 

 "twenty nests might be pointed out in rocks for one in a tree." In such 

 places the peregrine is an enemy who often makes a meal of them. The 

 names ' windhover' and ' stannel' (sometimes written * stonegall,' ' stanchel' 

 and ' steingall') are of great antiquity. It is probable that they both allude 

 to its habit of remaining suspended in the air with outspread tail and open 

 mouth.' 



" A curious instance of the breeding of a kestrel in confinement has 

 been given to us by our friend Mr. Gatcombe, of Plymouth, who writes as 

 follows : — 



" ' A Mr. Rogers, who has an aviary, and deals in live birds, has had a 

 pair of kestrels for many years, which are confined in a partition of a cage 

 only about four feet long and four feet high by two feet broad, the female of 

 which lays every year ; and a year or two since she hatched five young ones, 

 but behaved in a most extraordinary manner with her offspring. The eggs 

 wei'e laid every alternate day, and the young hatched accordingly ; but after 

 nursing the young one most assiduously for a day, directly another came 

 out of the shell she would kill and cat the fii-st, and so on to the fourth, 

 when Mr. Rogers, wishing to save one bird at least, took the fifth away and 

 tried to bring it up by hand, but, to his great vexation, failed. I myself 

 saw the female every day pluming the eggs and young, and can therefore 

 vouch for the truth of this fact. The remarkable part of this statement is 

 the bird's breeding in so small a space.' 



" The kestrel was formerly tried for falconry, but was never well adapted 

 for the sport, not possessing the fire and dash of the nobler falcons. On 

 this subject Dr. Edward Hamilton has kindly sent us the following 

 note : — 



" ' I have trained the kestrel myself to come to the lure, but never could 

 get it to swoop at birds, although I have starved it almost to death ; but put 

 a mouse before it, and it would immediately take it. The favourite food 

 was raw meat or mice. Birds, when given, were always left half plucked 

 or half eaten, as if distasteful.' " 



As regards the arrangement of the book, there is none at present ; 

 and, to a printer, there is something excessively objectionable in 

 the pagination being consecutive only throughout each species: 

 how this is to be remedied hereafter, I do not clearly see ; and how 

 the work is to be indexed I am altogether at a loss to imagine ; 

 but it is useless to anticipate difficulties which after all may be 

 only in imagination ; no doubt our authors are fertile in expedients 

 which will tide them over these trifles ; but I should greatly have 

 preferred having the name of the order or section at the head of 



