KESTREL KLEE. By Kenneth Richmond.

(1943) 1973 reprint. Small 8vo (125 x 190mm). Ppiv,128. B/w vignettes. Blue cloth, spine titled in gilt.

The story of a kestrel and his struggle with nature red in tooth and claw. "Klee and Hirra are the only survivors from a brood of four, ravaged in a hailstorm which plucks out one of Hirra's eyes. Klee's mother teaches him to hunt from the sky; one demonstration and it is the last he sees of her. His early life is marred by a blast from a shotgun, but he recovers and goes on to survive his first winter. In the spring he mates with Frikka and they settle to rear their brood in a hollow ash tree. Frikka is killed in a trap, and Klee, blindly seeking a new mate, meets again Hirra the One-Eyed. A severe winter almost kills him and leads to his captivity. But he regains his freedom, and once more returns to the world of Krark and Tchatchekki and Hoo. Based on the author's extensive field observations."