The Kestrel 



( Falco tinnunculus ) Linnaeus 



MALE, FEMALE, NEST, AND YOUNG. 



O the Agriculturist this species is one of the most useful of all our British 



birds ; its food at all times consisting mainly of the Common Field 

 Vole (Arvicola agrestisj. The nest affords abundant proof of their usefulness, for 

 the interstices between the sticks are filled with fur from many scores of Field 

 Voles ; the remains of a Blackbird being the only exception. The nest (an old 

 one of the Magpie) has had the front portion of the dome pulled away by the 

 Kestrels, to admit of easy access to their young. It is very rarely that these birds 

 build a nest of their own. The upper specimen is an adult male ; the nest of five 

 full-fledged young ones differ very little from the adult female which is crouching 

 at the edge of the nest. 



Collected on the Faton Estate, and presented by Mr. R. J. Smith. 



