THE KESTREL. 



Falco tinnunctilns, Linnaeus. 

 Plate 38. 



The Kestrel, by far the most numerous of our predatory birds, though resident 

 in many parts of the British Islands, moves southwards in winter from its more 

 northern quarters, and about this time also numbers reach England from the 

 continent of Europe, where it has a wide range, while it is likewise found in 

 Africa and Asia. 



The Kestrel either takes possession of the deserted nest of a Crow or Magpie, or 

 lays its eggs in a recess in the rocky face of a cliff, or in a hole in the wall of 

 a ruin, and occasionally in a hollow tree. The four, five, or six eggs are closely 

 dappled with various shades of rich reddish-brown, often on a creamy-white 

 ground. 



The Kestrel — or Windhover as it is often called, from its method of hang- 

 ing in the air — hovers head to wind, either motionless or supporting itself with 

 rapid beats of the wings, gliding quickly to another point as soon as it is satisfied 

 that there is no mouse or other prey beneath, and repeating the operation until it 

 finds some unsuspecting quarry on which it drops. 



It is one of the least harmful and most useful of our raptorial birds, killing 

 large numbers of mice and voles, as well as beetles and other insects, and although 

 it occasionally takes small birds, its short toes are ill adapted to the capture of 

 feathered prey. 



The well-known cry has been syllabled as klee, klee, klee. 



Very old female birds partially assume the male plumage, and have more or 

 less bluish-grey on the rump and tail. I have shown one of these, in the plate, 

 from Mr. G. E. Lodge's collection, who kindly lent it for the purpose. 



66 



