Birds of Prey. 
127 
THE LESSER 
KESTREL. 
(Cerchneis cenchris 
The Lesser Kestrel. 
The male of this bird differs from 
that of the Common Kestrel not only 
in its smaller size, but by the absence 
of black spots on the back, and it 
may also be told by its whitish claws. This latter 
character also determines the female from the hen of 
the Common Kestrel. 
The present species is common in Southern Europe 
in summer, and extends to Southern Russia and Central 
Asia, wintering in South Africa, whither it goes in large 
flocks with other small Falcons in pursuit of the locust- 
swarms. It has been met with in Yorkshire, in the 
Scilly Islands, and near Dover, in England, and in Co. 
Dublin in Ireland. It is more entirely an insect-feeder 
than the Common Kestrel, but otherwise resembles that species in its habits. It 
breeds in large colonies in the South of Europe, in holes of ruins and in church- 
towers, or in holes in the ground. No nest is made, and the eggs, four to seven in 
number, resemble those of the Common Kestrel, but are smaller and paler rufous, 
inclining more to a cinnamon tint ; they do not exceed one-and-a-half inches in 
length, and are generally not more than one-and-a-cjuarter inches. 
This pretty little Kestrel has been obtained more than 
twenty times in Great Britain, and has occurred in various 
counties from Cornwall to Northumberland. Three examples 
have been recorded from Scotland, and one from Ireland. It 
is an inhabitant of South-eastern Europe, and occurs from 
Hungary to the Volga and thence to the Valley of the Yenesei. 
In winter it visits Africa, passing down the Nile Valley to South-western Africa. 
The male of the Red-footed Kestrel is easily distinguished by its grey plumage 
and rufous thighs, but the female is quite different from the male, and more resembles 
a Hobby in appearance, being grey banded with black above, with the head rufous. 
The under surface of the body is also rufous. The young birds resemble the old 
females, but have rufous margins to the feathers of the upper surface. 
In habits the present species resembles the other small Kestrels, and feeds entirely 
on insects. It builds no nest but adapts the old nest of a Rook or some other bird to 
its wants, and breeds in companies. The eggs are like those of the Common 
Kestrel, but are more of a yellowish red colour and are smaller, the length being 
from one-and-a-quarter to one-and-a-half inches. 
THE 
RED-FOOTED 
KESTREL. 
(Cerclmeis 
vcspertina.) 
