FALCON. 129 



53.— LESSER KESTRIL. 



Falco Tinnunculoides, Tern. Man. Ed. 2. p. 31. 



LENGTH 11 in. Bill bluish; cere, and round the eyelids 

 yellow ; cro^vn, sides of the neck, and nape pale ash-colour ; back, 

 scapulars, and greater part of the wing coverts deep rufous, inclining 

 to red ; some of the larger, the second quills, rump, and nearly the 

 w hole of the tail bluish ash, near the end of the last a broad black 

 band, and the end white ; throat pale ; the rest of the under parts 

 pale reddish rufous, marked with longitudinal black streaks ; legs 

 yellow ; claws pure white. 



The adult female is rather larger, and is so like that sex of the 

 Kestril, in colour, as not to be distinguished, except in the size being- 

 smaller, and both of them differ fi'om the common sort in being 

 less, the quills reaching to the end of the tail, and the claws quite 

 wliite. 



Inhabits various parts of Europe ; seen at times in Hungary and 

 Austria ; veiy common about the kingdom of Naples, also in Sicily, 

 Sardinia, and the south of Spain, especially among the mountainous 

 and rocky parts; probably known at Gibraltar, as Mr. White 

 mentions a Kestril, much smaller than the common one, being now 

 and then seen there. Said to feed on beetles, and large insects, 

 rarely on small birds ; it builds in the clefts of rocks, particularly in 

 Sicily, and near Gibraltar. 



VOL. I, 



