KESTREL. ^L 



the i^aiustakiiig authors of the ' Birds of Europe,' before 

 quoted, iudistiuguishable from those killed iu Britain, while 

 others again are much paler iu colour. Returning towards the 

 west, Eversmann observed it in Bokhara, and, though not 

 noticed by De Filippi in Persia, it is said by Menetries to 

 extend to the frontiers of that country, while it is common 

 in the Caucasus, occurring even at the height of six thousand 

 feet. In Palestine, too, it is abundant, breeding, according to 

 Canon Tristram, in very many localities, and generally some 

 twenty to thirty iu the same spot. In the northern part of 

 East Africa it is resident, but vast flocks arrive in autumn and 

 pass to the southward to Arabia, Abyssinia, and the Soudan, 

 returning again when winter is past. Mr. Gurney received 

 a specimen said to have come from the Seychelles, but it is 

 certainly not a common bird in those islands, which possess 

 a species peculiar to themselves, the Falco or Ti)iiiuncuh(s 

 gracilis. Dr. von Heuglin observes, that the Kestrels which 

 remain in North-east Africa are generally more brightly 

 coloured than European examples, with larger and blacker 

 spots, and that the head of the hen is darker reddish-grey, 

 and the band on the tail broader ; and Professor Sundevall 

 makes much the same remark. The most southern limit 

 of the Common Kestrel would seem to be the latitude of the 

 Cape of Good Hope, whence a young male, caught on board 

 ship, is contained iu the Leyden Museum. Andersson sent 

 a single example from Damaraland ; Mr. Sharpe has re- 

 ceived it from the Fantee-country, in West Africa ; and it 

 also occurs in Senegambia. In the Cape Verde Islands and 

 the Canaries it is common and resident, as it also is in the 

 Azores and Madeira ; but examples from the last locality are 

 remarkable for their dark colour. It is also abundant in 

 Morocco and Algeria, and, according to the late Mr. Cham- 

 bers-Hodgetts, in Tripoli. 



About a dozen other species of Kestrel are known, some 

 of which have a curiously restricted range, as that of the 

 Seychelles, before mentioned ; that of Mauritius, Falco pioic- 

 tatiis ; and that of Cuba, F. si)((rvcrioides ; while others have 

 a wider distribution, and the so-called "American Sparrow- 



VOL. I. M 



