KESTREL. 197 



The rump, upper tail-coverts, and tail, are ash-grey or 

 light bluish-grey, the latter with the shafts and a sub- 

 terminal bar upwards of an inch in breadth, blackish- 

 brown, the tips greyish-white. The throat is yellow- 

 ish-white, without spots. There is a blackish-grey 

 mark near the angle of the mouth, and a line of the 

 same along the inner and upper edge of the eye. The 

 breast and sides are pale yellowish-red, each feather 

 with a narrow central line and subterminal lanceolate 

 spot of dark brown. The tibial and abdominal fea- 

 thers are paler and unspotted ; and the lower wing- 

 coverts are M^hite, with triangular spots of blackish- 

 grey. 



Length to end of tail 131 inches, to end of wings 

 11|; extent of wings 27 ; wing from flexure 9|; tail 

 6J ; bill along the back j%, along the edge of lower 

 mandible ^^ ; tarsus 1^ ; first toe /j, its claw j\ ; se- 

 cond ^^, its claw 1 ; third | J, its claw j\ ; fourth j%, 

 its claw ||. 



Female The female, which is not much larger than 



the male, diflFers considerably in external appearance, 

 and chiefly in having less grey, the fore-part of the 

 head, the rump, and the upper tail-coverts, as well as 

 the tail, having merely a slight shade of bluish-grey on 

 their general reddish-colour. All the upper parts are 

 thus light red, but of a paler tint than in the male, and 

 barred with dark brown, each feather having four bands 

 of brown and three of red, of which latter colour is the 

 tip also, the shafts dark brown. The secondary quills 

 are similarly marked, but the primary are brown, witli 

 transverse spots of pale red, confluent on the inner 



