366 



FALCOX AND EAGLE GROUP 



former days these bold and dashing Httlc falcons were great favourites 

 for hawking both in Europe and Asia, being very easily trained. 



Kestrel (Tinnun- 



That handsome little hawk, the kestrel (so called 



cums alaudarius). ^■'°"'' '^^^ plaintive cry— Latin querela), is the typical 



representative of a genus distinguished from the 



falcons not only by the smaller and weaker beak and feet, but also 



by the larger and distinctly graduated tail, in which the outer 



feathers are at least an inch shorter than the middle pair. The wing 



HE ROWLAND W«RD STUDIOS 



KKSTKKI. (MAI.K). 



is also relatively shorter ; and, as in the red-footed falcon, there is a 

 decided difference in the colour of the plumage of the two sexes. The 

 relative shortness of the foot is indicated by the circumstance that the 

 length of the middle toe, exclusive of the claw, is only from two-thirds 

 to three-fourths that of the shank of the leg, whereas in the typical 

 falcons these two are more or less nearly equal. As to the best name 

 for the kestrel, authorities are by no means agreed, many using the 

 title Ccrchucis tinnunciilus in place of the one employed in this work. 

 Other writers, who take a wider view of the limitations of the generic 



