The American Kestrel 



Taken in the Sespe 



getting on nicely; but this is a mistake, for the high-pitched conversation 

 is really very amiable in character, and neither bird would think of parting 

 from its consort, for however brief a space of time, without a screamed 

 farewell of unquestionable tenderness. 



Sparrow Hawks nest in holes in trees when these are convenient, 

 using either natural cavities or the deserted tenements of flickers and 



other woodpeckers. The 

 ifii higher these rented quarters, 

 the better the birds are satis- 

 fied, but holes not over four 

 feet from the ground are of 

 record. In default of such 

 accommodations, old mag- 

 pies' nests, or even open- 

 topped crows' nests have 

 been utilized ; but a more 

 common expedient is to re- 

 sort to the romantic crannies 

 and hidey-holes of the rocky 

 cliffs. In such situations this 

 diminutive falcon appears to 

 recall his noble ancestry; and 

 I have fancied that he was 

 here a shade more valiant 

 in defense of his young. 

 Certainly the Red-tail does 

 not care for that particular 

 stretch of cliff ; and the Prairie 

 Falcon seems to regard the 

 lesser spit-fire with quaint 

 indulgence, or else to treat him 

 with that magnanimous un- 

 concern which a Newfound- 

 land shows to a terrier. 



On Santa Cruz Island I 

 once found a pair of Kestrels 

 nesting in a tunnel in an 

 earth-bank, excavated, no 

 doubt, by a pair of hard- 

 working Flickers (Colaptes 

 Wafer collaris) who occupied 

 fresher quarters hard by. And 



Photo by D. R. Dickey 



NEST AND EGGS OF AMERICAN KESTREL 



164O 



