70 BIRDS OF THE WORLD 



slippery prey more easily, the soles of the feet are 

 provided with numerous rough spines. 



It is a large bird, about two feet in length, with 

 a wing-spread of more than twice as much. The gen- 

 eral colour is greyish, or brownish, above, the under 

 surface white, with dark spots. The colour, however, 

 varies considerably in different individuals. 



Living as it does exclusively upon fish, the nest of 

 the Osprey is usually built near the water, in the top 

 of a tall tree or an old building, and is used for many 

 years in succession. Two or three white eggs 

 blotched with brown are laid, and the young are much 

 darker in colour than the adult birds. The Osprey 

 is a most devoted mate and parent. This bird is par- 

 ticularly beautiful and graceful in flight. 



The Kestrel is a little Falcon that is still quite com- 

 mon in many parts of Europe. It is easily recog- 

 nised from its habits of hovering in the air on quiver- 

 ing wings, always facing the wind, and examining the 

 ground with keen eyes in search of the mice and insects 

 upon which it feeds. As with the Falcons generally, 

 it builds no nest, but uses those that have been deserted 

 by Crows and Magpies, or deposits its eggs on the 

 ground, in cliffs or in hollow trees. See Plate 3, Fig. 

 11. 



The male Kestrel when fully adult is a very hand- 

 some bird; the female is duller in hue, with back and 

 tail closely barred. The young, as is so often the 

 case when the parents differ in colour, resemble the 

 female. The eggs, as with all the Falcons, are very 

 richly coloured. 



The place of the European Kestrel is taken in this 



