THE HAWK TRIBE 



1953 



called American sparrow hawk {F, sparvorius} , in which the centre of the crown of 

 the head of the male is rufous, and the wing coverts blue with black spots. Al- 

 though its chief food consists of mice and voles, the kestrel occasionally kills small 

 birds, and will also eat frogs, beetles, worms, and grubs, while in India it frequently 

 devours lizards. That it will occasionally kill a young partridge or chicken is 

 doubtless true, but such small robberies are far more than counterbalanced by the 

 benefits it confers on the agriculturist by the destruction of hosts of pernicious 





LESSER KESTREL. 

 (Two-thirds natural size.) 



rodents, and it ought therefore to be carefully preserved, instead of being ruthlessly 

 shot down. Although occasionally placed in a hollow tree, the nest is more gener- 

 ally situated among rocks or old buildings, while still more frequently the deserted 

 nest of some other bird, such as a crow, magpie, or raven is taken advantage of. 

 The eggs, usually four or five, but sometimes six in number, may be either mottled 

 all over with brownish red or orange, or blotched with these colors upon a light 

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