voles, field-mice, frogs, grasshoppers, beetles, and earthworms.
Most of our Kestrels leave us towards the end of
October, and during really severe weather we seldom
see one; but in mild winters a few remain after the
main body has passed to the south. In Northamptonshire
the country-people generally call this bird
“ Sparrow-Hawk ; but gamekeepers have good reason
to know the very obvious differences of habit and
appearance between the present species and thé bird
that properly bears the latter designation. The Kestrel
will now and then take a young game-bird on the
ground; but the good service done by this species in
the destruction of noxious animals, to say nothing of
the beauty of its flight, ought to ensure it from
slaughter in the supposed interests of sport. I know
that it is almost useless to protest against the persecution
of this, as any other species, by the emissaries of
bird-stuffers and plume-dealers, the only hope that one
may reasonably entertain in this connexion is for an
improvement in taste and sense of decency.
The Kestrel is more or less common throughout
Europe, and is exceedingly abundant in Spain, where
it is to be found nesting in almost every church-tower
or ruin in town and country in company with its very
close congener—the Lesser or White-clawed Kestrel
(F. cenchris). I need hardly say that the present
species is useless for the purposes of falconry ; but it is.
an interesting pet, and may be kept quite tame in
perfect liberty.