332 FALCO TINNUNCULUS. 



than twenty years. Indeed in Scotland, twenty nests might 

 be pointed out in rocks, for one in a tree. The eggs, which 

 vary from three to five, are of a broadly elliptical or roundish 

 form, pale reddish-orange, or reddish-white, confusedly dotted 

 or patched all over with dull brownish-red. They vary in 

 length from an inch and a half to an inch and three-fourths, 

 with an average breadth of an inch and a quarter. 



This Falcon appears to be the most numerous of our rapa- 

 cious birds, being generally distributed in England and Scot- 

 land, from Devonshire to Cape Rath and the Shetland Isles, 

 and from the eastern to the western shores. It is difficult to 

 say where it is most abundant, it being found equally in bare 

 and in wooded tracts ; but in rocky maritime pasture-lands, 

 and in the gi"assy valleys of the interior, it is more frequently 

 seen, while in the central heathy parts it is of very rare occur- 

 rence. It is less frequent in the north than in the south of 

 Scotland, and it would probably be more numerous in England 

 than in the latter district, were it not liable to be destroyed by 

 game-keepers. 



Mr Harley, who resides in Leicestershire, states that it 

 abounds there. " The numbers," he continues, " are greatly 

 diminished in the brumal months, and therefore we may con- 

 clude that a partial migration then takes place. It generally 

 nestles in the spruce fir, selecting the deserted nest of a Carrion 

 Crow or Magpie, in one of each of which I have found its eggs. 

 Like the Cuckoo, it does not make a nest for itself. Atkinson, 

 in his Compendium, says ' it breeds in hollow trees, and lays 

 four or five pale reddish eggs f but I have never met with it 

 breeding in such places. I have known a bird of this species, 

 which was kept two or three years as a garden pet, lay three 

 eggs, and sit upon them with the same patience as if she had a 

 partner. The eggs of course were unproductive. The kestrel 

 when pinioned will climb up a cage side, or a small tree, hold- 

 ing fast by the bill, after the manner of a parrot. I saw one 

 doing so at Bradford, in Yorkshire, in January 1839. Con- 

 finement and domestication bring out new habits in animals. 

 Thus, my Goldfinch will climb all round a large breeding-cage, 



