VIII.— THE FOOD OF SOME OF OUR COMMONER 

 FALCONID.^, AS ASCERTAINED BY DISSECTION. 



I. INTRODUCTION. 



If the expression " some of our commoner Falconidae," which I 

 have used in the title of this paper, were to be interpreted hterally, 

 our discussion would be limited to two species only, the Kestrel 

 {Falco tinnHHCitliis) and the Sparrow-Hawk {Accipiter iiisus). They, 

 are the onl\' two which can properly be called coiimioii, from one end 

 of Great Britain to another. In the fertile and highly-cultivated 

 lands south of the Tweed, or in the bleak, rocky glens of the western 

 Highlands, the Kestrel is equally at home. It is common in the 

 Orkneys, even to their northernmost islands, like Westray, and 

 throughout the whole of the Hebrides, Inner and Outer. The same 

 is true of the Sparrow-Hawk, provided that a certain amount of 

 timber is present. As there are but few trees in the outer islands, 

 the Sparrow-Hawk is absent, or but very rarely met with as a chance 

 straggler on migration. For the rest of Scotland, given a sprinkling 

 of woodland, the Sparrow-Hawk is as widely distributed as on our 

 side of the border. I doubt if the number of either species has been 

 serioush' diminished in the last half century, despite pretty constant 

 persecution. 



It is to these two species that I propose to devote a considerable 

 portion of my notes. In the first place, because I have a sufficiently 

 large series of skins to be able to arrive at reasonably definite 

 conclusions ; and in the second place, because these two Hawks 

 come into continual contact with the game-preserver and his keepers, 

 and for that reason are of some economic importance. 



The Sparrow-Hawk has a thoroughly bad name, and it is rare 

 indeed to find anyone, even the most soft-hearted naturahst, putting 

 in a good word for him. He is held in universal detestation. I 

 think my dissection-notes will show that this hawk is nothing like 

 as harmful as he has been thought to be. 



With regard to the Kestrel's good name, the case is quite 

 different. Some ornithologists have gone so far as to state that the 



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