THE KESTREL. 59 



Mr. Macgillivray observes, that the kestrel never hovers in 

 pursuit of prey " at a greater distance from the ground than forty 

 feet;" but, in the north of Ireland, it is commonly, when so 

 occupied, at double or treble that height in the air. Its elevation 

 above the ground is probably proportioned according to the prey 

 sought for ; small birds, we may presume, being seen from a much 

 greater height than mice. 



The kestrel has been so far trained by Mr. Wm. Sinclaire, as, 

 when given its liberty, to attend and soar above him like the pere- 

 grine falcon, and fly at small birds let off from the hand. One of 

 these hawks, kept by this gentleman in the town of Belfast, 

 had its freedom, and went every evening to roost in an ex- 

 tensive plantation in the country, about a mile distant, in flying 

 to and from which it was first recognised by the sound of the bells 

 attached to its legs. Tins bird returned regularly to its town 

 domicile at an early hour in the morning. 



Mr. Rd. Langtry has often seen a wild kestrel rise from the 

 enclosure in which his eagles, &c, were kept, but never having 

 observed it to carry away anything, knew not whether food or 

 curiosity (which we frequently see displayed by birds,) may have 

 been the cause of its visit. 



Often as I have seen swallows follow in the train of birds of 

 prey, I never, but in the following instance, saw one of them be- 

 come the pursued. On September the 22nd, 1832, when walk- 

 ing with a friend in the garden at Wolf-hill, near Belfast, a male 

 kestrel, in close pursuit of a swallow {Hirundo rustica), appeared 

 in sight over the hedge-row, and with extreme ferocity continued 

 the chase, losing not the least way by the swallow's turnings, but 

 keeping within about a foot of it all the time. At one moment 

 they passed within five or six yards of our heads. It is idle to 

 conjecture how long the pursuit may have lasted before we 

 witnessed it, but immediately on the kestrel's giving up the 

 chase, the swallow, nothing daunted, became again, accompanied 

 by many of its species, its pursuer, and so continued until 

 they all disappeared. The kestrel was probably forced to this 

 chase by the particular annoyance of the swallows, as they 



