The Kestrel is commonly known as the Wind-hover, on account of its habit of hanging motionless in the air against the wind. It has a very graceful flight. This Falcon is quite the commonest of the British birds of prey, and we should have still more of these useful Falcons in our country were it not for the prejudice and ignorant ideas of so many of our gamekeepers and farmers. In Scotland the former are becoming much more aware of the harmlessness and the usefulness of the Kestrel. Considering the fact that the creatures forming its principal food are mice, it is strange that our agriculturalists have not valued its services sooner. The gracefulness of its flight makes it an interesting point in a landscape. It is as well known to country children in our Southern counties as is the Cuckoo. If their nest is robbed before the full number of eggs is laid the pair will remove such eggs as are left to the next suitable empty nest they can find and proceed with their family duties there. The Kestrel is a pleasanter bird to keep as a pet than others of his family; it is easily tamed, and afterwards can be kept at liberty, as it will come to call or whistle if it is fed regularly at the same time and place. The late Lord Lilford, who knew more practically about Falcons than most ornithologists said: “I cannot altogether acquit the Kestrel of an occasional bit of poaching; a small Partridge or Pheasant astray in the grass is no doubt too tempting a morsel to be resisted, but any petty larceny of this sort may well be condoned on account of the great number of field-mice and voles destroyed by these birds.” In Spain its food consists chiefly of beetles. A great many of our Kestrels leave us at the approach of winter when the food they like best is too hard to find. * * * * * The Kestrel is about the same size as the Hobby, but is a slenderer bird, and its tail is longer. The tail is of a beautiful grey colour and extends far beyond the tips of the wings. Near its extremity it is adorned with a broad, dark, transverse bar; the tip itself, however, is white. The back is reddish with dark, triangular markings; the flanks light-coloured with black longitudinal marks. The bill is curved from the base, and is short and strongly hooked. Cere and feet are yellow. The tail of the female has several narrow transverse bars, with tip as in the male. For nesting places the Kestrel chooses by preference ruins, towers, and lofty crags, very seldom selecting a site in a tree. It lays four or five eggs, rarely more than six. They are thickly spotted and splashed with brownish-red on a light ground. * * * * *