TINNUNCULUS ALAUDARIUS .
Kestrel.
Faleo tinmnculus, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 127.
— aureus, Klein, At., 49, 52, 53.—Id. Ov. t. vi. fig. 4.
interstmctus, M'CleU. Proc. of Zool.Soc. 1839, p. 154.
| faseiatus, Retz. Faun. Suec., p. 70.
brunneus, Beeilst. Taschenb. Deutsch., tom. i. p. 38. /
alaudarius, Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 279.
Accipiter alaudaem*. Bj-iss, Orn., tom. i. p. 379. .
______ fjjtojinnrrrt. Brittü. Orn., tom. i, p. 393.
' it-fi/Ä, Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 21. sp. 3.
Cerchneis tmnutu'ubis, Bonap. Comp. List of Eur. and N. Amer. Birds, p. 5.
So much h a s been written respecting the habits and economy o f the Kestrel by both British and Continental
authors, that it will not be necessary to give any lengthened details on these points, as they must he we
known to every one a t all acquainted with the history o f our native birds, I shall therefore content myself
by stating all that it is necessary to say respecting it in as succinct a manner as may be. First, then, as
to its d istribution: no one of the B ritish Falcons and Hawks is so widely and so generally spread over England,
Ireland, and Sco tlan d -ev ery locality being alike frequented, whether it be barren wastes, h e a th , m o o r l a n d s ,
o r districts under cultivation, on the continent o f Europe it is equally d i f f u s e d from east to west, and from
south to n o rth , it is iust as abundant throughout Africa northward o f the Tropic, Asia Minor, and the entire
peninsula of India, from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin; and th at its range extends even still further east
has been proved b , the receipt of specimens collected by Mr. Swinhoe m China, which do n o t materially
differ lion! ilinse killed in England. Why are K estrels so numerous when c o m p a r e d with other Falcons and
Hawk, • Our acquaintance with them tells us that o f all the members of the Falcon,dm they a r e the most
omnivorous, and that, instead o f c o n f i n i n g themselves to birds and smaU q u a d r u p e d s , msects, which are preyed
upon a
food is
imisl indiscriminately, form a considerable part of their d ie t; and hence, as the abundance of this kind of
a * „ e a t e r is the number both o f the individuals and of the various species o f Kestrel to which
feric name o f 77/mmirate has been given. But to return to our own bird, the only one o f its genus
vhich visits Great Britain: what are its habits? what are its peculiarities ? The first and most striking ,s
,„double,lh its manner o f hovering and sustaining itselfin the air at one fixed position. Few, I conceive, who
Cave left the town, the mansion, or the cottage, and gone out for a co u n ty ramble, but must have noticed
[ stationary object between them and the sky. This is the Kestrel in pursuit of his daily c a l l i n g , scanning
the earth for a mouse, an insect, a l i z a r d , or, if it be the season of summer, a young lark or
I I binl f-„r several seconds (sometimes for a minute or more) this speck in the sky appears motionless;
h w T m - — ... will tell us if his penetrating eye has been a t t r a c t e d by some living object below, for
, he descend, like a stone towards the ground, if not, his beautifully constructed wings bear him
a succession of graceful sweeps to another par. of the heath o r common, where he again enacts the
L n e I have endeavoured to describe, but which will perhaps be rendered more intelligible by a reference
‘ l a y i n g Plate, where the bird figured is shown to be a male by the black bar across the end of
° . . lU l r y tail Independently o f these peculiar aerial evolutions, the Kestrel sometimes gives chase
* or hunts near the ground for the nestling partridge, or perhaps a leveret, but this is not the
U l r and prav let no. my mentioning that he occasionally destroys a partridge chick be arraignedI again t
ml h T L o m sealed in the mind o f every keeper of g ame, rather consider the good he
' , , ;.’uvi,i‘, the voracious Shrew, the Field-Mouse, the young Weasel Snake and Adder, all of
I k L L „ Low,, to kill. In summer,” says Mr. Selby, the Cockchafer supplies to tins species
r f „„ram, snd food, and the following curious account is given by an eye-witness o f .be feet.
. . tlw measure, this summer, o f seeing the Kestrel engaged in an occupation entirely new
, .„u-lmfors late in the evening. I watched him through a glass, and saw linn Uar
warm of the insects, seize one in each claw, and eat them whilst flying. He returned l
Z „gain, f ascertained it beyoud a doubt, as I afterwards shot him.’ ” In ta
c larg e impetuous swoop of the Peregrine, nor the dashing, low, skimming ight
the iVv'srre? « «w e r * r 1 , , «__a „ i W FaleoM. In
M iwlf In lii-. Aikpotition it w more tame and docile, o r res» ooia
of the • • I"*'1 “ . - ii instance which has been
tS .. h--h trait in hi* nature I may cite the following interesting
connrmaiwMi w • *"• " . n « n t v . rtMnhire:—“ About four 7„Vwv,risi • bv the ftev. II. H. Crewe, of Breadsall Hoctur>, iftroy»™™