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. This bird returned regularly to its town 
domicile at an early hour in the morning. 
Mr. Ed. 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 
