Page:The Natural History of Ireland vol1.djvu/83

 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. Tins bird returned regularly to its town domicile at an early hour in the morning.

Mr. Rd. 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