KESTREL 
209 
this is fortunately coming to be recognised, even 
among gamekeepers of the old-fashioned kind. 
The males and females are noticeably different 
in plumage, though there is not the same differ- 
ence between them in size that there is among 
many other Hawks. The male is reddish-brown 
over the greater portion of the back, with a few 
dark spots ; its head and tail are grey. The 
female is also reddish-brown above, but barred a 
good deal with deeper brown, which gives her 
a distinctly darker appearance. The under parts 
of both are whitish, with Thrush-like markings of 
black. The young are a rather lighter brown than 
the female, and speaking generally, the Kestrel can 
be easily distinguished from the Sparrow Hawk (or 
the Cuckoo) by its prevailing tinge of reddish- 
brown. It has a sharp, ringing, repeated cry, 
which rather recalls the laugh of the Green Wood- 
pecker, but is more shrill and penetrating. The 
Kestrel nests both in trees and among cliffs and 
rocks, as well as occasionally on towers and ruins. 
In the first of these situations it generally occupies 
the old nest of a Crow, Rook, or Magpie, rarely, 
if ever, adding any new material, and often scratch- 
ing away the top layer of decayed lining so as to 
reach the earthy platform or core. It also lays its 
eggs, more rarely, in the hollow top of a broken- 
off trunk, or even inside a regular hole, like an 
