192 



CAPE KESTRIL. 



Falco Capensis. F. supra ferrugineus nigro maculatus, subtus 



rufo-fiavescens maculis longitudinalibus nigris, cauda albido 



nigroque fasciata. 

 Falcon, ferruginous above with black spots, beneath rufo- 



flavesent with longitudinal black spots j and the tail marked 



by black and whitish bars. 

 Le Montagnard. Levaill. oi.i.pl. 35. 



So much allied is this bird to the Falco Tinnun- 

 culus or European Kestril, that we can hardly 

 consider it in any other light than as the Kestril 

 modified and in some degree altered by the effect 

 of climate. The figure given by Monsieur Levail- 

 lant under the title of Le Montagnard, seems to 

 differ in scarcely any material respect from a 

 female Kestril. It is however, according to Levail- 

 lant, a larger bird, and differs in having the tail 

 more rounded, and barred in a similar manner in 

 both sexes, while the wings are somewhat shorter 

 in proportion. It is found in many of the interior 

 parts of Africa, and is likewise very common at the 

 Cape of Good Hope, where it is called the red or 

 stone-falcon. It is chiefly observed in high and 

 rocky situations, and feeds on the smaller kind of 

 quadrupeds, lizards, insects, &c. It makes its nest 

 among rocks, of dry twigs and grass, and lays six, 

 seven, or even eight eggs, which are of a deep 

 rufous colour, resembling the plumage of the bird 

 itself. 



