370 



KESTREL. 

 Falco tinnunculus (Z.)- 



Resident, common and generally distributed. An influx of migrants 

 occurs in autumn. 



The earliest mention of this Hawk in Yorkshire appears 

 to be in Graves's " History of Cleveland " (1808), where it 

 is enumerated among the resident birds. 



Thomas Allis, 1844, wrote : — 



Falco tinnunculus. — Kestrel — Common in most parts of the county. 



In Yorkshire, as in most other counties, the Kestrel is 

 the most numerous and the best known species of the 

 Falconidae. It is generally distributed, being reported from 

 every district in the county as occurring during some part of 

 the year. As a breeder, it is found in all suitable localities, 

 adapting itself to every variety of situation for the rearing 

 of its progeny. In wooded districts it prefers the deserted 

 nest of a Crow or Magpie ; among the fells, a rocky ledge ; 

 and on the coast the cliffs ; while in the open pastoral country, 

 ruins and hollow trees are occasionally resorted to. All seem 

 to be acceptable, and its absence from them can be accounted 

 for by persecution or the immediate vicinity of some manu- 

 facturing centre. A pair bred in an unoccupied house on 

 the main road between Ripon and Harrogate, and in Ribbles- 

 dale a nest was found in a barn. Amongst other curious 

 nesting incidents are that of a Crow, Magpie, and Kestrel 

 breeding in the same tree, near Worksop ; and a Kestrel 

 nesting in proximity to a Long-eared Owl, near York, in 1897. 

 There are certain portions of the densely populated districts 

 of the West Riding in which this species is now only observed 

 as a winter visitant, probably from elevated and more exposed 

 localities, though formerly it bred there ; and at Spurn 

 Head it is annually noticed as an early autumn migrant. 



With regard to the Kestrel's wintering in Yorkshire, Mr. 

 J. E. Harting wrote as follows in the Field for 1872 : — " The 

 Kestrel, which to a certain extent is migratory, has been 



