24 



THE KESTREL Oil WINDHOVEK. 



[Sept. 1894. 



of hovering in the air, without motion, for a long time. Its 

 graceful flight is also dilFerent from the rapid dashes of the 

 Sparrowhawk. It is about fifteen inches from head to tail, the 

 female being slightly smaller. 



The colour of the Kestrel is from reddish-brown to fawn with 

 black or bluish-black bars or spots on the back. Tlie breast is 

 also of lighter hue of fawn or chestnut. The beak of the^ male 

 is blue. The female lays five eggs, about 1^ inches long, mottled 

 with reddish-brown. The young appear about the beginning of 

 May, the nest being built on high rocks or old towers, and other 

 old buildings and, as Yarrell says, sometimes in the nests of 

 crowds or magpies. 



There is testimony from many writers as to the value of the 

 Kestrel to the agriculturist as a mouse destroyer, notably from 

 Charles Waterton and White of Selborne. In his recently 

 published book, Tieinsche Schddlinge tind NutzUnge, Professor 

 Ritztma Bos speaks of the great usefulness of the Kestrel 

 {Tiirnfalh) to cultivators in Germany on account of its destruc- 

 tion of mice and insects. In France it is also highly valued. 

 Brocchi, in his Traite de Zoologie Agricole, writes that the 

 Kestrel (crecerelle) preys upon mice, rats and insects, and 

 deserves accordingly to be protected. 



