S6S FALCON AXD EAGLE GROUP 



in sprint:^ by cockchafers, and later on by fern-chafers and dor-beetles, 

 which arc captured when flying. In seasons when short-tailed field- 

 mice make their appearance in unusual numbers, kestrels are some 

 of the predacious birds which assist in thinning the hosts of these 

 pernicious rodents. It is stated that small birds have so little fear of 

 this hawk, that they will permit it to make its appearance in their 

 midst without signs of terror or even alarm. On the other hand, 

 it has been conclusively demonstrated that when other food is scarce 

 kestrels will not hesitate to levy toll on young pheasants or chickens. 

 In the British Isles it appears that these hawks generally select the 

 nests of other birds — more especially crows, ravens, magpies, or 

 pigeons — as depositories for their own eggs ; and that, as a rule, they 

 do little or nothing in the way of rcj)airing these more or less 

 dilapidated tenements. The)' occasionalK', however, nest in hollow 

 tree-trunks, and in hilK' districts in the clefts of rocks, when the eggs 

 are laid on a bed of earth overlying the bare stone ; while at least two 

 instances are known of their building in corn-ricks. In India rocks, 

 or, more rarely, ruined buildings form the favourite nesting-sites, trees 

 being only utilised as a last resort. Four or five is the usual number 

 of eggs in a clutch, although the number may vary from three to si.x, 

 or even exceptionally seven. Measuring just over i .^ inches in length 

 by about i:|; inches in breadth, the eggs are so thickly blotched with 

 mahogany and brick-red, generally of two shades, that little or nothing 

 of the creamy ground-colour remains visible. Incubation terminates 

 in England about the end of April or the early part of May. 



A white kestrel was killed at Newmarket in 1865. Of much 

 greater interest is, however, an old female taken in Hertfordshire in 

 1874, in which the tail and tail-coverts were of the slaty hue, with 

 black bars, normallx' characteristic of the male. This shows a tendenc)' 

 to approximate to the t\'pc of the more specialised species, such as 

 the peregrine, in which the blue (originally breeding) dress has been 

 acquired b>' both sexes. 



The lesser kestrel ( riintuncnlns le/iihris, or Cerclincis ccncliris), 

 which breeds in southern Europe, western Asia, Persia, and China, and 

 visits Africa and India in winter, may be distinguished from the 

 typical species by its whitish or \eliowish horny, in place of black, 

 claws; its total length being about 12.', inches. Although doubtless 

 other specimens have occurred, only ten examples of this species 

 appear to have been definitely identified in the British Isles up to the 

 \ear 1 900. Of these England ^inclusive of the Scilly Isles) claims 

 eight, while Scotland and Ireland have one each. 



