336 FALCO TINNUNCULUS. 



said to breed four times in the year. Allow that one half have 

 4 litters, one fourth 3 litters, and the remaining fourth two lit- 

 ters. Give 7 to each birth, which is about the average, and 

 the amount will be 9555. Thus, a single Kestrel, during a re- 

 sidence of 210 days, is the means of destroying 9555 -1- 840 = 

 10,395 mice. If we were to calculate how many young the 

 progeny of these 840 mice would produce, and so on, the num- 

 bers would exceed belief. It is quite certain, at all events, 

 that the Kestrel, feeding for the most part on mice, must de- 

 stroy vast quantities of them, and that he well deserves protec- 

 tion as the benefactor of man. I much fear, however, that all 

 humane considerations will be little heeded so long as the pre- 

 sent game-laws are in force.'''' 



In one particular Mr Hepburn is certainly mistaken ; for, as 

 I have stated, I have repeatedly found remains of birds in its 

 stomach. Upon the whole, the habits of this species arc pretty 

 well known, and as I have nothing further of importance to 

 say on this head, we may now inspect the young, which are at 

 first covered with greyish-white down. 



Young. — When fledged they nearly resemble the adult fe- 

 male. The bill is light greyish-blue, toward the end yellowish- 

 grey ; the irides dark brown ; the cere and superciliary ridge 

 pale greenish-blue, the feet yellow, the claws broAvnish-black 

 with their tips paler. The head and hind-neck are light 

 brownish-red, with longitudinal blackish-brown streaks ; the 

 upper parts of the body, the wing-coverts and tail, light red, 

 the feathers transversely marked with broad dark brown bands, 

 of which the last is somewhat triangular. The primary quills 

 and their coverts are dark brown, the latter with light red spots 

 on the inner, the former on both webs. There are eight dark 

 bars on the tail, the last three-quarters of an inch in breadth, 

 the tips dull reddish- white. The lower parts are pale yellowish- 

 red, the sides of the neck and the breast with longitudinal dark 

 brown streaks, the sides marked with streaks transversely 

 barred. The feathers of the legs, abdomen, and subcaudal 

 region light reddish -yellow, some of the former having a dusky 

 shaft-line. 



