THE LITTLE FALCON. 
63 
by artificial means, and preserved in the same spot by the trammels of a string. While 
hanging thus strangely suspended in the air, its head is bent downwards, and its keen 
eyes glance restlessly in every direction, watching every blade of grass beneath its ken, and 
shooting down with unerring certainty of aim upon any unhappy field-mouse that may be 
foolish enough to poke his red face out of his hole while the Kestrel is on the watch. The 
marvellous powers of the Kestrel’s eye may be easily imagined by any one who has any experi- 
ence of the field-mouse and the extreme difficulty of seeing the little creature while it is creep- 
ing among the grass straws. Its ruddy coat blends so well with the mold, and the grass 
blades bend so slightly under the pressure of its soft fur, that an unpractised eye would fail 
to detect the mouse even if its precise locality were pointed out. 
The number of field-mice consumed by this hawk is very great, for it is hardly possible 
to open the stomach of a Kestrel without finding the remains of one or more of these destructive 
little animals. On account of its mouse-eating propensities, the Kestrel is a most useful bird 
to the farmer, who in his ignorance confounds all hawks together, and shoots the Kestrel 
because the kite steals his chickens. 
Another species, which belongs to the same genus as the kestrel, is the Red-footed 
Falcon or Ingeian Falcon ( Tinnunculus vespertmus ), having its usual residence in 
Austria, Russia, and Poland. 
Specimens have also been taken 
in Athens, Nepal, and Tunis, 
so that the species seem to have 
a very extensive range of coun- 
try. It goes through consider- 
able changes of tinting before 
its plumage attains the adult 
colors, but the full-grown bird 
may readily be distinguished 
from the common kestrel by 
the legs and toes, which are of 
a reddish flesli-tint, instead of 
the yellow hue which is found 
in the former bird. The claws, 
too, instead of being black, are 
yellowish-white, deepening into 
a grayish-brown on the tips. 
Among other members of 
the same genus, we may notice 
the Little Falcon ( Tinnun- 
culus sparmrius ) of America, 
an interesting account of which 
bird may be found in the pages 
of “Wilson’s American Orni- 
thology.” Its habits are very 
similar to those of the common 
kestrel, and, like that bird, it 
preys chiefly on mice, lizards, 
grasshoppers, and the larger 
insects. It will, however, attack and carry off chickens and the young of other birds during 
the breeding-season. Its nest is always made on some elevated situation, and is generally 
found on the top of a lofty tree, although the bird sometimes builds upon rocks, in the crev- 
ices of towers, or even in the hollows of trees. 
RED FOOTED FALCON .— Falco vespertinus. 
