The Kestrel. 79 



seen from 300 to 400 on the wing at the same moment.* In 

 Palestine, again, I have noticed it as extremely common; and 

 there Canon Tristram says it breeds in colonies, ten or twenty 

 pairs occupying the same ruins, and sometimes sharing the re- 

 cesses of the caves which are tenanted by the Griffon Vultures.t 

 In Sweden the Kestrel is known as Torn Folk, or ' Tower Falcon/ 

 so called because, alone of the hawk tribe which breeds in 

 Scandinavia, its habit there is to make its nest in old ruins and 

 towers.J For the same reason it is Twrmfalke in Germany, and 

 Falco acertello o di torre in Italy ; but in France Gresserelle ; in 

 Spain Cernicalo, and in Portugal Francelho, and sometimes 

 Peneireiro, ' Hoverer.' It may easily be distinguished from the 

 other members of the family by the prevailing rufous fawn colour, 

 which is common to the plumage of both sexes. It preys almost 

 exclusively on mice, of which it destroys an incredible quantity, 

 dropping upon them suddenly from above, but occasionally varies 

 this diet with coleopterous insects, reptiles, and small birds. Of 

 cockchafers it seems especially fond, and it will eat them while 

 on the wing ; seizing one in each foot, and then transferring it 

 to the mouth, in like manner as the Hobby above described, 

 and as the elegant ' Swallow-tailed Kite ' (Nauderus furcatus) is 

 reported to do in Guatemala, when it chances to fall in with a 

 swarm of bees ; but I think it has very rarely been known to 

 molest a young partridge or pheasant, or commit the smallest 

 trespass on game ; nevertheless, it is a hawk, and as such is the 

 enemy of the indiscriminating gamekeeper, who can see no 

 difference in the Kestrel and Sparrow-hawk, but looks upon both 

 as his mortal foes, and traps and destroys them accordingly. 

 There can, however, be no question that the Kestrel, far from 

 being injurious, confers the greatest benefit on man, ridding him 

 of thousands of field mice, which are destructive alike to the 

 farm, the garden, the orchard, and the plantation. 



The specific name tinnunculus is defined by the B.O.U. 

 Committee to signify 'with a shrill sharp voice, or bell-like 



Ibis for 1865, p. 175. t ^ 8 for 1865 > P- 259 - 



Lloyd's ' Scandinavian Adventures,' vol. ii., p. 263. 

 Ibis for 1860, pp. 240243. 



