130 Order IV 



commonly resorts for a time to the coast-lands, while 

 it may be seen in Britain at all seasons of the year. 

 Its flight is rapid with quick turns ; its cry is rather 

 querulous and consists of one reiterated note ; its food 

 is of our smaller birds, for the capture of which it was 

 used in falconry. The male Merlin is grey with a 

 rufous hind-neck, a dark band on the taU, and streaks 

 on the buff lower surface, the upper parts exhibiting 

 decided shaft-streaks on the feathers. The female is 

 quite different, being brown with five bars on the tail, 

 the tip of which, as well as the hind-neck and cheeks, 

 are white. 



The Kestrel {F. tinnunculus) is trndoubtedly our 

 commonest Hawk, being found from the north to the 

 south of Britain in the breeding season, but moving 

 gradually southwards for the winter, when it is 

 joined by many migrants from abroad. A like dis- 

 tribution holds good for Europe and Asia, but the 

 north African race is smaller and darker. This most 

 useful species feeds almost entirely on small mammals 

 and insects, especially beetles, though it does occa- 

 sionally take young birds ; the flight is slow and steady 

 with prolonged intervals of hovering, from which habit 

 it is called by country-folk the Windhover. The cry 

 is shrill, and usually heard near the breeding quarters. 

 The Kestrel builds no nest, but re-lines with the 

 slightest of materials that of a Crow, Magpie or other 

 large bird ; not uncommonly it lays its eggs on ledges 

 of cliffs or buildings, in holes in chalk pits, or in hollow 

 trees, but rarely on level ground. The eggs are reddish 

 white, partly or entirely covered with red-brown 

 blotches, spots, and smears. The male has a bluish 

 head, tail, and rump, a rufous back with black spots. 



