56 



FAMILIAR WILL BIRDS. 



pale-bluish white, so blotched over with reddish brown as 

 to greatly obscure the primary colour. 



As may be inferred from the nature of its food (the 

 capture of which essentially demands a watchful silence) , 

 the voice of the Kestrel is seldom heard. It is possessed 

 of a harsh querulous kind of scream, uttered more par- 

 ticularly whilst devouring its food; though when dis- 

 turbed it utters a rapid kind of screaming chatter. 



