THE KESTREL 



FALCO TINNUNCULUS 



LOCAL names in surrounding counties : " Hoverer " 

 (Essex). 



STATUS IN BRITISH AVIFAUNA : Common resident in 

 the south ; more or less migratory in the northern 

 areas. 



RADIAL DISTRIBUTION WITHIN FIFTEEN MILES OF ST. 

 PAUL'S : The Kestrel is certainly the commonest rap- 

 torial bird in the Metropolitan area, and there are few 

 districts indeed in the suburbs where it may not be seen 

 at some time of the year or another. It breeds regularly 

 in all suitable spots in the outer portions of our fifteen- 

 mile circle, though unfortunately on the decrease in 

 many localities. A hovering Kestrel is by no means an 

 uncommon sight above such spots as Hyde Park, Kensing- 

 ton Gardens, Regent's Park, Greenwich Park, Clapham 

 Common, and Battersea Park ; whilst even yet more 

 frequently it may be observed further afield at Tooting, 

 Wimbledon, Richmond, Kew, Osterley Park, Hanwell, 

 Acton, Ealing, Wembley, Sudbury, Finchley, Hampstead, 

 Highgate, and Wanstead. Beyond these limits, again, the 

 bird becomes of more frequent occurrence, a feature in 

 the landscape that the bird-lover may expect to notice 

 anywhere and at any time ; whilst, on the other hand, 

 the observant watcher from the crowded streets of the 

 great city itself may from time to time detect the " Wind- 

 hover " poised as if hanging from some invisible thread 

 high above the loftiest buildings, or progressing across the 

 great hive of toiling humanity below to more congenial 

 haunts in the green country beyond. It has bred on the 

 steeple of Bow Church in Cheapside, and on the Nelson 

 Column in Trafalgar Square. 



The presence of the Kestrel gives a pleasant touch of 

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