124 



A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



stages. Has also been known to take a Swift. Frogs, lizards, 

 adder and slow -worms also recorded. Insects : chiefly coleoptera 

 (Geotrupes, Melolontha, Carabus, etc.), orthoptera and larvae of 

 lepidoptera (Noctuidce). Also earthworms. Collinge estimates 

 64.5 per cent, of food as beneficial and 6 per cent, injurious. 



Distribution. — British Isles. — Resident. Generally distributed, 

 but leaves Shetlands for winter, and much rarer then in other parts 

 of north Scotland as well as in north and east Ireland. In England 

 numbers are swelled in winter by immigrants, and passage- 

 movements take place on south-east and east coasts and through 

 northern isles in autumn (early Aug. to end Nov.) and spring (mid- 

 March to mid-May and occasionally June). 



Distribution. — Abroad. — Europe, north Africa, north, central and 

 west Asia, in winter more southwards to east Africa and parts of 

 India. Accidental Iceland and Faeroes. Clearly -defined sub- 

 species represent the European form on Madeira, the Canary and 

 Cape Verde Islands, in north-east and east Africa, Japan, Mts. of 

 India and of China. 



FALCO NAUMANNI* 

 250. Falco naumanni 

 KESTREL. 



naumanni Fleisch.— THE LESSER 



Falco Naumanni Fleischer, Sylvan, Jahrbuch auf 1817 und 

 p. 174 (1818 — Visitor to S. Germany and Switzerland). 

 Falco cenchris, Yarrell, 1, p. 82 (in text) ; Saunders, p. 357. 



1818, 



Wing-formula of : A. The Kestrel {Falco t. tinnunculus) . 1st and 2nd notched on 

 inner web and 2nd and 3rd emarginated on outer, 1st always considerably shorter 

 than 3rd. B. The Lesser Kestrel (F. n. naumanni) . 2nd not notched on inner web, 

 3rd not emarginated on outer web, 1st usually longer and only occasionally shorter 



than 3rd. 



* This name, correctly employed by Sharpe in the Cat. B. Brit. Mus., I, 

 1874, as well as the names tinnunculoides and xanthonyx, antedate cenchris. 



