70 Dr. Heusrlin on new or little-known Birds 



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The bill is longer and not so strong : the toes and tarsi are some- 

 what longer; the latter are shielded upwards to half their height. 

 The species is to be recognized at a distance by its red colour, 

 by the ferruginous lower coverts of the wings, and by the abs- 

 ence of grey on the head and of any broad band on the tail. 

 As far as I know, it is confined to very narrow limits, as I have 

 only found it on the western frontier of the provinces of Wochni, 

 Galabat, and Goara, and in the prairies of Eastern Sennaar, 

 near Atbara, where it inhabits steep, isolated, volcanic, rocky 

 mountains, sometimes in company with F. tinnunculus. It ap- 

 pears to nest in clefts of the rocks in preference to high trees, 

 and hunts for its prey, which consists chiefly of grasshoppers, 

 Mantides, and Truchsalides, in the morning and evening. Like 

 F. erythrojms and F. cesalon, it devours its prey (holding it in 

 its claws) as it flies, after having previously picked off" the legs. 

 I have never found birds or mammals in its stomach, but some- 

 times large beetles (Copris and Ateuchus). Whenever the prairie 

 takes fire at the time of the drought, this Kestrel hurries to the 

 spot, often from a distance of several miles, and there joins the 

 great flocks of other insectivorous birds which assemble to hunt 

 after orthopterous and lepidopterous insects, snakes, and other 

 animals that are attempting to escape from the flames. It is 

 difficult to describe the impression made by so strange a spec- 

 tacle. A sea of flame, fluctuating and roaring like thundei', 

 spreads rapidly as lightning through the dry and high grass, 

 and is overshadowed by a black smoke, which eclipses the day- 

 light and reflects the shooting flashes of fire. Amid this 

 uproar of the elements, the Bee-eater {Merops nuhicus, Gm.), 

 the Parasitic Kite {Milvus parasiticus), the diffiei'ent species of 

 Circus and Tinnunculus are franticly chasing and pursuing their 

 prey, sometimes plunging into the midst of the smoke, and for 

 the moment disappearing in it. It often happens that one 

 of them singes its wings or tail. This infernal scene is followed 

 by a flock of Storks [Sphenorhynchus ahdimii) , which, melancholy 

 and grave, stride over the burnt and still glowing prairie, seizing 

 the half-roasted grasshoppers with the never-missing thrust of 

 their bills, or robbing of their prey the unfortunate Plovers 

 {ChettusicB) which happen to come into too close proximity. 



