CHAPTER VII 



How to tell Birds on the Wing 



{continued) 



" The seamew's lonely laughter 

 Flits down the flowing wave ; 

 The green scarts follow after 



The surge where cross-tides rave." 



Fiona Macleod. 



Falcons — Golden eagle — Harriers and sparrow-hawk — The heron — The 

 cormorant, shag, and gannet — The petrels — Guillemots, razor-bills, and puffins — 

 The ducks — ^The great-crested grebe and dabchick — The pigeons — The " plover 

 tribe " — The gulls and terns — ^The game-birds. 



OUR native birds of prey, the owls and hawks, have 

 been so harassed by gamekeepers that many species 

 are now exterminated, while others are but rarely seen. 

 Some, however, in favoured localities still remain to us. At 

 one time the owls and hawks were believed to be nearly 

 related : they were distinguished as the " Nocturnal " and 

 " Diurnal " birds of prey. We now know that they are not 

 in the remotest degree related. The owls, indeed, are closely 

 related to the nightjars. They have been already discussed 

 here. The hawk tribe must now have their turn. 



The one most commonly seen to-day is the kestrel, which 



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