117 



day they may be seen by three or four hundred at a time, now hanging motionless over the 

 plains near Seville (as the Ettrick Shepherd said of the Merlin, 



As if let down from the heaven there 

 By a viewless silken thread) , 



now dipping down for a moment upon some beetle on the ground. I am at present speaking of 

 the winter months, when the main arrival of the Lesser Kestrel (F. cenchris) has not taken place, 

 as the latter bird does not generally come till March, though some undoubtedly do remain all 

 the time. I fancy that the two species interbreed, or that there is an intermediate race, as on 

 the 16 th May I took a white-clawed female off her nest in the Cathedral of Seville, whose eggs 

 were typical eggs of T. alaudarius, of the largest description, quite unlike any that I have ever seen 

 of F. cenchris, which, moreover, had scarcely begun to lay, whereas these eggs were very much 

 incubated. In length of wing and other dimensions this female is decidedly larger than the 

 female F. cenchris, and is barely, if any, smaller than average F. tinnunculus (female) from other 

 localities. I may add that in many birds resident in Spain there is a tendency to run smaller in 

 size and brighter in colour than more northern specimens." 



Mr. Tyrwhitt Drake considers it to be a very common bird in Tangier and Eastern Morocco ; 

 and it is found in Tripoli, as recorded by the late Mr. W. T. H. Chambers. In Algeria Loche 

 says it is plentiful ; and Mr. Salvin states that it is very abundant throughout the Eastern Atlas. 



In the Sahara, Dr. Tristram observes : — 



" The Kestrel resorts to every part of the country, except the plains. In the oases he preys 

 on the Palm-rat, which nestles in the crown of the date-trees, or he pursues the large beetles at 

 dusk through the gardens. In the ravines he finds abundance of Marmots (gundi) ; and in the 

 dayats I have often watched him pouncing upon the Jerboas as they leave their holes." 



In South-eastern Europe the present species is everywhere distributed. Lindermayer says 

 it is a resident in Greece, but much less numerous in the winter. Lord Lilford, however, found 

 it not common in Epirus and Corfu during his residence in those countries. 



Mr. C. Farman says : — 



" Throughout the whole country lying between the Black Sea and the Danube the Kestrel 

 is abundant, and is in fact the commonest of all the birds of prey. It seems to have no partiality 

 for any particular spot, it being equally abundant on the shores of the two lakes of Devna, the 

 Pravidy valley, the moorlands about Shitangick, and the forest country to the east of Eodgrad." 



Respecting the occurrence and habits of this bird in Turkey, Mr. T. Eobson writes us as 

 follows : — 



" This species is numerous in Turkey in Europe and Asia Minor, and particularly so during 

 the spring and autumn migrations. In spring they arrive and pass in small flocks, and during 

 the winter are not so numerous as at other seasons of the year. During the summer they are 

 widely distributed throughout Turkey, and are partial to towers, aqueducts, and large reservoirs 

 for nesting-places ; but they also build in holes in the walls of houses in villages and populous 

 towns, as also under the eaves of farm-buildings in the country. The cup-shaped base of the 

 large branches of the oriental plane trees often also affords them a secure and unnoticed nesting- 

 place. 



M 



