104 
and fly spots of a brick red mingled together and mixed with 
small brown spots.” The egg figured by Bree measures, 
according to the drawing, 1-42 by 1:17, and is like a light- 
coloured variety of common Kestrel eggs. I am rather 
suspicious of Dr. Bree’s eggs generally, the simple faith with 
which he accepts, as authentic, Continental eggs with positively 
no pedigree, being more remarkable than reassuring ; but this 
egg is so common now in Hurope, that I suppose he may here 
be trusted. 
Mr. Tristram in the Ibis for 1859 told us, that this species 
was “ eregarious about the ruins in the plain districts. About 
fifteen or twenty pairs were building their nests in and about 
the beautiful tower of Ramleh (Arimathea) in company with 
a still larger number of the common Kestrel, and flew screaming 
round me, as I climbed the still perfect staircase of the tower.” 
In the Ibis for 1865, he gives a full account of its nidification 
in Palestine. He says, ‘“ It breeds, so far as we have observed, 
invariably in communities, usually in narrow fissures of the 
rocks or in the crevices of ruins, not generally in very inacces- 
sible situations, but always in so narrow a cleft, and at such a 
depth in, that the eggs are hard to extract. I never found 
a colony without many of the common Kestrel breeding in the 
same place. The largest rookeries of this bird we met with, 
were in the towns of Lydda and Ramleh, and in the top of an 
old quarried cave (perfectly protected by prickly fern) im the 
town of Nazareth. Although the two species are so closely allied, 
there can be no difficulty in discriminating the eggs; and we 
found that the Arab boys knew the difference between the two 
species at once, calling one the black nailed and the other the 
white nailed ‘ bashik.’”’ 
Mr. Simpson in his notes on the birds of western Greece has 
the following interesting remarks on this species. ‘ Towards 
the middle of March, the little Kestrel (2%/co Cenchris) begims 
to arrive, and presently takes up its abode, often in considerable 
numbers, in the villages and ruins upon the plains. 
“¢ Whilst the common Kestrel, which occurs all the year round, 
dwells in the rocks and remote ruins, breeding generally in 
single pairs, this species prefers more inhabited places and, like 
the Swallow, trusts to mankind. In eastern Greece, one of its 
favorite localities is the renowned ruin, which crowns the 
Acropolis Rock at Athens. Most of the villages in the marshy 
plain near Mesolonghi have their colony of # Cenchris and 
notably those in the neighbourhood of the Phidaris, where the 
insects abound on which they feed. Hach of the favoured villages 
will have from half a dozen to a dozen pairs. They breed 
