CHAPTER LXXXII. 



THE Kestrel Hawk. 



Falco Tinnunculus, Lin. ; La Cresserelle, Buf. 



Description and Character. — The Kestrel Hawk is a noble, 

 elegant bird, graceful and majestic in its contour, and un- 

 questionably the handsomest of the Falconinse tribe. It is 

 altogether an interesting bird, not nearly so vicious and 

 cruel as the Sparrowhawk, and when reared by hand and 

 properly domesticated becomes as tame and tractable as a 

 home-bred pigeon. A full-grown adult specimen measures 

 14in. in length, the tail being Gin. ; the width from tip to 

 tip of the wings is 27in., and the weight about 7oz. The 

 bill is short and stout, the upper mandible being much in- 

 curvated, and the colour dusky blue. The cere and edges of the 

 eyelids are yellow, and the eyes blackish brown ; above the 

 bill is a narrow line of buff ; the head, and hind part and 

 sides of the neck and cheeks, are a leaden bluish grey, faintly 

 streaked with thin black lines ; the cheeks are paler and 

 greyer in colour than the surrounding parts ; from the corner 

 of the gape, on each side of the head, is a small line of 

 faintish black, striking downwards. The back and wing coverts 

 are a deep reddish fawn colour, edged with a paler- tint, and 

 variously marked with black, according to the age of the 

 bird ; the under parts of the body are reddish yellow, 

 striped and spotted with bright russet brown and black ; the 

 hocks, or leg feathers, and rump, are of the same colour ; the 

 tail feathers are dark greyish blue on the upper side, and 

 silvery grey beneath, with black shafts, and barred near the 



