HAWKS 77 



Eggs. Usually 3-4. Whitish usually nearly or wholly hidden 

 by shades of beautiful tawny pink, orange to brownish-red 

 and purplish-brown. Av. size, 2*01x1*59 in. Laying begins 

 usually in April. One brood. 



155. Merlin [Ftflco regulus regulus Pallas ; Falco cesalon 

 Tunstall]. Breeds on the hills and moorlands of Wales, N. Eng- 

 land, Scotland, and Ireland ; possibly Exmoor. Found on 

 lower ground and coasts in autumn. 



Bird. Length 11-12 in., the female the larger. Recognised 

 by its relatively small size. Bill hooked. The male has the 

 upper parts bluish with black shaft streaks, except the nape, 

 which is rufous. Tail grey-blue barred, dusky and tipped 

 white. Under-parts whitish, tinged rufous and striated black. 

 Legs yellow. Female, upper-parts dark brown. Tail the same, 

 barred and tipped white. Nape, cheeks, and under-parts 

 whitish striped with dark brown. The young like female, but 

 with pale rufous margins on upper-parts. 



Nest. Usually a scrape in the ground among heather with 

 scanty lining. Occasionally in old nests in trees and on cliff 

 ledges. 



Eggs. Usually 4-5. Heavily mottled with shades of reddish 

 or purplish-brown, obscuring the ground colour. Av. size, 

 1*55 x 1*23 in. Laying begins usually in May. One brood. 



156. Kestrel (wind-hover) [Falco tinnunculus tinnunculus 

 Linnaeus]. Resident generally where not 



persecuted, but scarce N. Scotland and 

 Ireland. 



Bird. Length 13-14 in., the female be- 

 ing somewhat larger. Bill hooked. Easily 

 distinguished from the sparrow-hawk by 

 its habit of hovering, its relatively long 

 wings (9J-10 in.), the fact that its tawny 

 rust-coloured under-parts are streaked 

 with black longitudinally and not barred, 

 and that the dominating colour of the 

 upper-parts is chestnut-red. Legs yellow F - 91 



and unfeathered. The sexes differ in 



the coloration of the upper-parts. The male has only the 

 mantle and wing -co verts chestnut-red, with black spots. The 

 top of the head, the rump and the tail are slate-blue, the 

 tail with a broad terminal black band, tipped white. Wing 

 quills dusky. The female has the whole upper-parts, including 

 the tail, dull chestnut-red, with black bars. Young: like the 

 female, but paler. 



Nest. Place various : ledges of cliffs and quarries, ruins, on 

 old nests in trees, rarely on the ground. No material. 



