It was a lovely spring morning and Ralph stood at the foot of the tall fir and looked up at the nest, which was built on a branch quite near the top.
'It is a stiff climb,' he thought, 'and it's a good thing I am not heavy, or that branch would never bear me.'
But he was not a Britannia cadet for nothing, and the harder the climb the better fun he would think it, so up he scrambled.
A few minutes later a game-keeper came along, and stopped when he got near the fir-tree.
"'Hold hard there!'"
'I will just put a charge of shot into that hawk's nest,' he said to himself. 'Hawks do too much damage. I may catch the bird sitting there, and at any rate I can smash the eggs.'
He raised his gun to take aim when a piercing yell seemed to come from the sky. He lowered it hastily, and it was fortunate the shock did not make him discharge it.
'Hold hard there!' came a shrill voice from the direction of the nest. 'If you don't look out, you will bring down a bigger bird than you reckon for.'
The kestrel at this moment flew swiftly away, and the keeper was so perturbed he missed his opportunity of bringing her down.