278 FALCONID^ TINNUNCULUS 



Length (in flesh) 12-5; wing 9-3; tail 6-0; culmen 0'75 ; tarsus 

 1-75. 



Most of the female birds have all the tail-feathers barred with 

 black on both webs, though apparently very old birds have the tail 

 as in the male ; size much as in the male, perhaps slightly larger, 

 average length of wing of three males 9-3, of six females 9' 4. 



A young bird has the head rufous thickly streaked with black, 

 the back is more profusely spotted with black and the primaries 

 and tail-feathers tipped with pale rufous ; the tail is strongly barred 

 on both webs with black ; below, the streak-like spots extend onto 

 the abdomen and thighs. 



Distribution. — This appears to be almost everywhere the com- 

 monest hawk in South Africa, and to be a resident throughout the 

 year from Cape Town to the Cunene and from Durban to the 

 Zambesi. Beyond our limits it has only been noticed in Nyasaland 

 and Angola, and it probably does not extend to the north of the 

 10" of south latitude. 



The following are a few of the more important localities recorded : 

 Cape Colony — Cape div. January and June, Worcester, May (S. A. 

 Mus.), Port Elizabeth and East London (Eickards), Middelburg and 

 Orange river (S. A. Mus.) ; Natal — Common throughout from Durban 

 (S. A. Mus.) to Newcastle (Gates) ; Orange Eiver Colony — Kroonstad 

 (Symonds) ; Transvaal — Potchefstroom (Ayres) and near Johannes- 

 burg (Haagner); Ehodesia — Salisbury dist. (Sowerby) ; German 

 south-west Africa — throughout (Andersson). 



Habits. — The South African Kestrel closely resembles its English 

 ally in habits and markings, the most noticeable difference being 

 that the blue of the crown of the head extends over the ear-coverts 

 and cheeks in the South African bird. It is generally found in 

 pairs, and spends the day watching from a fixed post or hovering 

 in the air on the look-out for mice, small birds, and grasshoppers, 

 which form the chief portion of its diet, and on which it swoops 

 down with great speed and dexterity. It is by no means a shy bird, 

 and it has a somewhat shrill musical whistle which it practises 

 early and late. 



It nests in clefts in the sides of precipices and occasionally in 

 mimosa trees, while Symonds noticed a pair which built for four or 

 five years in succession in an inaccessible situation on the Dutch 

 Church at Kroonstad. Haagner found a nest on October 7 at Mod- 

 derfontein near Johannesburg, in a mimosa. It was constructed of 

 twigs lined with hair, wool, and feathers, and contained three eggs. 



