i6 THE RED-FOOTED KESTREL. 



species are met with in New Guinea, the Bismarck 

 Archipelago, and the Cape York Peninsula of 

 North-east Australia. The Cuckoo- Falcons are 

 somewhat intermediate in character between the 

 Kites and the Falcons, as are some of the 

 American genera, such as Harpagus and Ictinia. 

 In the Malayan Islands, extending northward 

 through the Malay Peninsula to the Eastern 

 Himalaya, we find the Falconets (Microhierax), 

 little birds, some of which scarcely exceed a 

 sparrow in size, but true Falcons alLthe same. 



Then we come to the true Falcons, of which 

 there are four recognisable genera, Falco, to 

 which the Peregrine and all the Hunting Falcons 

 belong ; Hierofalco, which comprises the large and 

 powerful Jer-Falcons; Hieracidea, the Australian 

 Jer- Falcons ; and lastly, the Kestrels (Cerchneis). 



The latter birds are mostly of small size, and 

 are principally insectivorous, though they also 

 devour small mammals and birds. The Kestrels 

 are distributed nearly all over the globe, and the 

 common species of the British Islands has rela- 

 tives in nearly every quarter of the old world. 

 The American Kestrels are of a somewhat 

 different type. 



