58 FALCONIDA. 
Tur Kesrret is one of the most common species of the 
British Halconide, and from its peculiar habits, which place 
it very often in view, it is also, as might be expected, one 
of the best known. It is handsome in shape, attractive in 
colour, and graceful in its motions in the air; though from 
its mode of searching for its food, and the shortness of its 
wings compared with others of the small raptorial species 
already figured, it departs from the characters of the true 
Falcons. It is best known, and that too at any moderate 
distance, by its habit of sustaining itself in the air in the 
same place by means of a short but rapid motion of the 
wings, while its powerful eyes search the surface beneath 
for mice of different species, which form by far the most 
considerable part of its food. It has acquired the name of 
Windhover from this habit of remaining with outspread 
tail suspended in the air, the head on these occasions al- 
ways pointing to wmdward; and it is also called Stonegall, 
which Mr. Mudie suggests should be written Standgale 
from the same habit. 
Mice, as before stated, certainly form the principal part 
of the food of this species; and it appears to obtain them 
by dropping suddenly upon them, and thus taking them by 
surprise. Montagu says that he never found any feathers 
in the stomach of the Kestrel; but it is certain that it does 
occasionally kill and devour small birds. The remains of 
coleopterous insects, their larve, and earth-worms have 
been found in their stomachs; and Mr. Selby, on the 
authority of an eye-witness, has recorded the following 
fact: ‘I had the pleasure this summer of seeing the Kes- 
trel engaged in an occupation entirely new to me,—hawk- 
ing after cockchafers late in the evening. I watched him 
with a glass, and saw him dart through a swarm of the 
insects, seize one in each claw, and eat them while flying. 
