BRITISH BIRDS. 
38 
are of a pale reddilh colour, with dulky ftreaks 
pointing downwards ; vent plain ; the tail is mark- 
ed by a pretty broad black bar near the end, a 
number of fmaller ones, of the fame colour, occu- 
pying the remaining part ; the tip is pale. 
The Kellrel is widely diffufed throughout Eu- 
rope, and is found in the more temperate parts of 
North America : It is a handfome bird, its fight is 
acute, and its flight eafy and graceful : It breeds in 
the hollows of trees, and in the holes pf rocks, 
towers, and ruined buildings ; it lays four or five 
eggs, of a pale reddilh colour : Its food confifts of 
fmall birds, field mice, and reptiles : After it has 
fecured its prey, it plucks the feathers very dex- 
teroully from the birds, but fw allows the mice en- 
tire, and difcharges the hair at the bill in the form 
of round balls. This bird is frequently feen ho- 
vering in the air, and fanning with its wings by 
a gentle motion, or wheeling llowly round, at the 
fame time watching for its prey, on which it Ihoots 
like an arrow. It was formerly ufed in Great Bri- 
tain fpr catching fmall birds and young Partridges, 
