342 THE RED-FOOTED FALCON 



1866 another, which is in the Dublin Museum, was 

 taken in County Wicklow in 1832. It is a pity that 

 this useful species, living as it chiefly does on insects and 

 field mice, should only appear in our country to be shot. 



On the steppes of Orenburg in Russia it has decreased 

 during the last fifty years, owing apparently to the 

 immigration of great numbers of the Lesser Kestrel, 

 which used to be rare there. The flight of the Red- 

 footed Falcon is not nearly so dashing as that of the 

 Kestrel ; you can note a difference in the expression of 

 the eye and the shape of forehead of the two birds. 



The clutch of eggs numbers five to six. They are 

 of a yellowish-white ground-colour, with spots and 

 marblings, some darker, some lighter. The nest 

 structure is scanty, and is seldom built by the bird itself; 

 it appropriates the old nest of a Crow, Magpie or Rook. 

 The male of this species is for the most part slate-grey 

 in colour, the thighs and under side of the tail are bright 

 chestnut-red. The iris and the feet are red. The 

 colouring of the female is more diversified. The mantle 

 is bluish-grey, with blackish stripes, like those on the 

 tail ; the sides of the belly are light rusty-brown, throat 

 and nape white. The forehead is whitish; top of the 

 head rust-coloured, legs and feet reddish. The claws 

 are nearly white. 



