430 FALCONIDJE. 



arctic region, also in the Himalayas above 7000 feet, in South 

 Afghanistan, and in several of the hill groups of Peninsular India, 

 especially in all the higher parts of the Western Grhats. It probably 

 breeds in the hills of Burma also. From September till April it is 

 commonly distributed all over the Indian Empire, the vast majority 

 of these birds being migrants from the North. It migrates to 

 Africa at the same time. 



Habits, fyc. The Kestrel is not often seen in forest ; cultivated 

 tracts and plains of grass are its principal haunts, and over these 

 it may be seen beating, especially in the morning and evening, every 

 now and then hovering with a quick motion of the wings above a 

 spot where it has seen or suspects it has seen its prey, on which 

 it drops quietly. From its characteristic method of hunting is 

 derived the English name of " Windhover." It subsists on 

 insects (especially locusts), lizards, frogs, and mice, rarely if 

 ever touching birds. The nest of the Kestrel is placed on rocky 

 ledges or small holes in cliffs, occasionally on ruins, more rarely on 

 trees. The breeding-season in the North is from April to June, but 

 earlier in Southern India, and the nest is of sticks with some grass- 

 roots, rags, or feathers intermixed. Very often a deserted crow's or 

 magpie's nest is utilized. From 3 to 6 eggs are laid, usually 4 or 5, 

 broad oval, more or less pointed and compressed towards one end. 

 brick to blood-red, mottled and blotched with a deeper colour, and 

 measuring about 1*57 by 1*21. 



1266. Tinnunculus cenchris. The Lesser Kestrel. 



Falco cenchris, Naumann, Vog. Deutschl. i, p. 318, pi. 29 (1822). 

 Falco tinnunculoides, Temm. Man. d'Orn. 2 e ed. i, p. 31 (1820). 

 Tinnunculus cenchris, Blyth, Cat. p. 16 ; Horsf. fy M. Cat. i, p. 14 ; 



Salvin, Ibis, 1874, p. 361 note ; Dresser, Ibis, 1875, p. 515 ; Gurney, 



Ibis, 1881, p. 470. 

 Erythropus cenchris, Jerdon, B. I. i, p. 40 ; id. Ibis, 1871, p. 242 ; 



Hume, Rough Notes, p. 103 ; Fairbank, S. F. iv, p. 252. 

 Tichornis pekinensis, Swinhoe, P. Z. S. 1871, p. 341. 

 Cerchneis naumanni, Sharpe, Cat. B. M. i, p. 435; Davidson 8f Wend. 



S. F. vii, p. 73 ; Hume, S. F. vii, p. 331 ; id. Cat. no. 18 ; Butler, 



S. F. ix, p. 371 ; Macgregor, S. F. x, p. 435 ; Barnes, Birds Bom. 



p. 19. 

 Cerchneis pekinensis, Sharpe, Cat. B. M. i, p. 437 ; Hume, S. F. vii, 



p. 332 ; id. Cat. no. 18 bis ; Hume 8f Inglis, S. F. ix, p. 242 ; 



Barnes, Birds Bom. p. 20 ; Hume, S. F. xi, p. 4. 

 Erythropus pekinensis, A. Anderson, S. F. iii, p. 384; Godw.-Aust. 



J. A. S. B. xly, pt. 2, p. 192. 

 Tinnunculus pekinensis, Brooks, J. A. S. B. xliii, pt. 2, p. 239 ; Hume 



$ Inglis, S. F. v, p. 6. 

 Cerchneis inglisi, Hume, S. F. v, p. 5 (1877) ; id. Cat. no. 18 ter. 



Coloration. Adult male. Crown, nape, sides of head and neck, 

 lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts, together with the greater 

 and median and sometimes parts of the smaller wing-coverts, ashy 

 grey ; ear-coverts whitish ; back, scapulars, and a varying proportion 

 of the smaller and median wing-coverts brick-red with a vinous 



