276 



KESTREL. 



under the eye a broad dusky streak, pointing downwards ; the back, 

 scapulars, and wing- coverts are of a fine red brown, spotted and barred 

 with black ; the under parts light ferruginous, spotted with black ; 

 thighs and vent generally plain ; greater quill feathers black, very 

 slightly tipped whitish ; the wing pointed ; the second feather the 

 longest ; tail fine cinereous grey, with a broad black bar near the end ; 

 tip white ; legs yellow. 



The female is considerably larger, and is distinguished from the 

 other sex by the head and tail being of the same colour as the back, 

 which is not so bright a red brown as the male ; the under parts are 

 also lighter, and the black spots not so distinct, but more in streaks of 

 dusky ; the tail is marked with transverse dusky bars, with a broad 

 one near the end. 



This beautiful species of hawk feeds principally on mice, in search 

 of which it is frequently seen hovering in the air, and quite stationary 

 for a great length of time. We never have seen the Kestrel in pursuit 

 of small birds, nor have we ever found feathers in the stomach, but 

 chiefly the fur of mice and the exuviae of beetles ; but no doubt it will 

 sometimes prey on small birds, as it is occasionally taken by birdcatchers 

 in the act of pouncing on their call-birds. The young males resemble 

 the female in plumage till after the winter of the first year, when they 

 assume the grey head and tail. 



* " In summer," says Selby, " the cockchafer supplies to this species 

 an object of pursuit and food, and the following curious account is 

 given from an eye-witness of the fact. ' I had,' says he, * the pleasure 

 of seeing the Kestrel engaged in an occupation entirely new to me — 

 hawking after cockchafers late in the evening. I watched him through 

 a glass, and saw him dart through a swarm of insects, seize one in each 

 claw, and eat them whilst flying. He returned to the charge again 

 and again : I ascertained it beyond a doubt, as I afterwards shot him.'"* 



This is one of our most common species, being very generally spread 

 throughout the kingdom, especially in the more rocky situations and 

 high cliffs on our coast, where they breed. The nest is made of a few 

 sticks, loosely put together, and lined with wool and other soft materials, 

 built in trees, in some crevice, or projecting rocky shelf, and sometimes 

 they content themselves with the deserted nest of a crow or magpie. 

 It lays four or five eggs of a dirty white, blotched over with rust-colour 

 of various shades ; sometimes wholly covered with a deep rusty red ; 

 these are rather inferior in size to those of the sparrow hawk. 



*" This well-known species," says Selby, " is distinguished, not only 

 by the symmetry of its form, and its elegant plumage, but by the pe- 



