2oo ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 



The nest is generally placed on a ledge of rock in a cliff, and 

 is often very difficult to reach, but in certain districts it is to 

 be found in a tree, and Professor Collett states that, according 

 to his experience, the Gyr-Falcon almost invariably nests in 

 the top of large fir-trees. Professor Newton well remarks : 

 " The curious fact that the Gyr-Falcon, like so many other 

 Accipitres, adapts itself to circumstances, breeding in trees 

 where rocks are wanting near places which abound with food 

 for its offspring, as is the case in the district of Hanhi-jarwi- 

 maa, will not escape the student's notice, and will furnish, I 

 think, another good warning against too hasty generalisations 

 with regard to the habits of a bird or other animal. It was 

 not until the fourth summer of Mr. Wolley's residence in Lap- 

 land that he became acquainted with this fact, and then, as 

 his remarks show, he was justly sceptical concerning it at 

 first." (Ooth. Woll. p. 87). 



The nest is made of stout sticks, and is used for many years, 

 where the birds are not disturbed. A rude lining of grass is 

 sometimes present, as well as a few green willow-twigs. 



Eggs. Four in number, the variations in tint being well 

 described by Mr. Wolley in the " Ootheca Wolleyana." Those 

 in the British Museum are mostly of a light reddish cast, 

 dotted and stippled with reddish-brown of a darker tint. Some 

 of the specimens show a ground-colour of reddish-white, with 

 somewhat coarser rufous blotches and spots, but in certain 

 examples the colouring of the egg is almost entirely rufous, 

 without any markings whatever. Axis, 2-2-2-35 inches; 

 diam., i'75-i'9- 



THE KESTRELS. GENUS CERCHNEIS. 



Cerchneis, Boie, Isis, 1826, p. 976. 

 Type, C. tinnunculus (L.). 



The Kestrels are nearly cosmopolitan, and there is scarcely 

 a country, excepting the Pacific Islands, where these small 

 Hawks do not occur. They have the same short toes as the 

 Gyr-Falcons, the outer and inner toes being about equal in 

 length, but the wings are more pointed than in the last-named 



