The Windover’s 
Year. 
(200) THE BIRD WORLD. 
visible boundary of his hunting grounds 
he met other Kestrels, but had but little 
to do with them except to warn them off 
when they approached too far into his 
domain. 
An Aerial Battle. 
Once he had caught and killed a rat, 
and was intent upon having a good meal, 
when another Kestrel came along, and 
stopping at Quicksight struck at him 
and tried to get the rat away, but Quick- 
sight darted upwards, and there was a 
battle royal in the air between the two 
birds, their strong wings beating quickly 
and strongly as they twisted and cut 
through the air, each hoping to strike 
the other fairly and strongly from above, 
but each too quick to be caught; for 
some minutes the struggle went on, and 
many feathers were lost until Quicksight 
managed to hustle the newcomer so much 
that he flew hastily away, and Quicksight 
could resume his interrupted meal. 
Takes Toll of the Sportsmen. 
Just before Christmas time, when tl\e 
days were shortest, there was a great dis¬ 
turbance in the woods and thickets near 
Quicksight’s haunts, many men were 
beating the woodlands, and as the birds 
flew away from the advancing enemies 
the dreaded noise of many guns was 
heard, and as this was going on during 
alipost all the time of daylight for three 
whole days, Quicksight was much dis¬ 
turbed. The last day when the beating 
began, he was between the beaters and 
the guns, and so flew off at a great pace 
to get clear of the men he could see, but 
to his surprise he was not shot at, and 
got away unscathed, to his great relief, 
for he was sadly frightened. The next 
day there was no shooting, and as he 
was somewhat nervously quartering his 
ground for prey, he saw a wounded 
Partridge in the grass, and swooping 
down soon killed it and had a sumptuous 
meal. He had not left it long before 
two Carrion Crows appeared, who took 
possession of the remains of the small 
carcase and fell too upon their easily- 
gotten food. 
Spring and Love. 
Soon after the coming in of the New 
Year the weather broke, and very little 
more frost or snow appeared; spring 
opened early and bright, and Quick- 
sight’s life was easier until the winter 
came round again. With the lengthen¬ 
ing of the days and growing power of 
the sun, Quicksight wanders further 
afield, and has some trouble to escape 
fights with other Hawks over whose 
domain he trespasses. One afternoon 
after he had caught and eaten his prey, 
he was sitting in an ash tree by the side 
of a country lane when he saw another 
Hawk coming across the field towards 
the tree he was in; he expected a fight, 
and got ready, but the bird called out a 
clear, shrill cry of “ pri, pri,” and 
Quicksight answered back almost un¬ 
consciously, as the bird drew near. 
Courting Days. 
The newcomer, which was a fine hen 
bird, was considerably larger than 
Quicksight, as all the wives of the 
Hawks are larger than their husbands, 
but Quicksight was attracted by her cry 
and fine plumage, and there was no fight, 
although there was a pretence of one for 
a few moments. Quicksight and the 
newcomer, whose name was Sharpclaw, 
hunted together for a few days, and 
Quicksight was persuaded to stay with 
Sharpclaw, so that they could hunt to¬ 
gether in the country where she lived. 
As the spring advanced, they both felt 
a strange and unknown call come to 
them which they did not at first under¬ 
stand, and could not satisfy, but one 
day Sharpclaw found an old Crow’s 
nest in the strong branch of an elm, and 
showing it to Quicksight, they com¬ 
menced to overhaul and repair it, re¬ 
lining it and making it quite sound and 
good again. 
Bearing a Family. 
Soon Sharpclaw laid five beautiful 
eggs, blotched and covered so thickly 
with blood-red markings that they look 
almost red all over; she sat faithfully 
upon them, only leaving the nest in the 
early morning to drink and to take food 
from Quicksight, when he brought to her 
his captures. lie utters his shrill cry 
