204 ALLEN S NATURALIST'S LIHKARY. 



bourhood, never attempting to molest the game. Underlying 

 the apparently mild demeanour of the ordinary Kestrel reigns 

 undoubtedly the fierce nature of the B'rd of Prey, and I 

 remember that on one occasion when I 1 ift my four Kestrels 

 for a day in charge of a servant who, of course, forgot to feed 

 them, as servants generally do, I returned to find only three 

 alive in the cage. Recognising the fact that they were forgotten 

 and unprovided with food, the three female birds set upOii their 

 smaller brother and ate him. 



Nest — As a rule, the Kestrel selects the old nest of a Crow 

 or Raven, or it may be the old domicile of a Magpie or 

 Pigeon. Mr. Seebohrn says that the original owner's nest is 

 sometimes repaired by the Hawks, but in the many nests 

 which I have tai^en in the south of England I have never seen 

 any evidence of this, and that the Kestrel is not much of a 

 nest-builder is proved by the fact that when the bird breeds in 

 a cliff, it makes no attempt at a nest. 



Eggs. — From three to five, or even six or seven in number. 

 The ground-colour is dull or creamy-white, but is often not 

 visible, as the chestnut clouding of the eggs entirely hides it. 

 Thus there are two shades of chestnut, as a rule, in the egg of 

 the Kestrel, the underlying one almost uniform, and the over- 

 lying darker chestnut shade taking the form of spots and irre- 

 gular blotches. Every kind of variation is exhibited in a 

 series, from brownish-red to dark chestnut, almost blackish. 

 In others the pale colouring is confined to one end of the egg, 

 and the dark colour to the other end. and the variation in 

 intensity of colour and markings is extreme. In rare instances 

 the whitish ground-colour is predominant, and the spots and 

 blotches of rufous are so arranged that the eggs look not unlike 

 certain forms of those of the Sparrow-Hawk. Axis, i'45 17 

 inch; diam., i-2-i'3. 



n. THE I,ESSER KESTREL. CERCHNEIS CENCHRIS. 



Falco cenchris^ Naum. Vog. Deutschl. i. p. 318 (1822) ; Newton, 

 ed. Yarr. Brit. B. i. p. 82 (187 1) ; Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 

 125, pi. 385 (1871); Seebohm, Brit. B. i. p. 51 (1883): 

 Saunders, Man. Brit. B. p. 345 (1889); Lilford, Col. Fig. 

 Brit. B. part xxii. (1S92). 



