A KESTREL AND A WAGTAIL.
[TO THE EDITOR or THE "SPECTATOR."] think that my friend Mr. Last (Spectator, August 23rd) will probably find that what he describes as a kestrel hawk is in reality a cuckoo. The flight and appearance of a young cuckoo closely resemble those of a kestrel. I remember a similar incident happening in the garden of a Berkshire vicarage some years ago. In that in- stance the mother bird was a robin, and it was quite a pathetic sight to see the diligence with which the little bird provided food for its overgrown pseudo-offiPring. At first the same
mistake was made, but further observation and inquiry proved that the nursling was a cuckoo and not a hawk. A gamekeeper informed me at the time that the mistake was not [We have received at least a dozen letters to the same effect as the above.—ED. Spectator.]
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