RAPTORES. FALCONIDÆ
TH E KESTREL, OR W IN D H O V ER .
Falco tinnunculus, The Kestrel,
The Kestril,
The Kestrel,
Faucon Cresserelle,
P enn. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 244.
Montagu, Ornith. Diet.
B ewick, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 39.
F lem. Brit. An. p. 50.
S elby, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 47.
J enyns, Man. Brit. Vert. p. 84.
G ould, Birds of Europe, pt. v.
Temm, Man. d’Ornith, vol. i. p. 29.
T h e K e s t r e l is one of the most common species of the
British Falconidce, and from its peculiar habits, which place
it very often in view, it is also, as might be expected, one
of the best known. I t is handsome in shape, attractive in
colour, and graceful in its motions in the air ; though from
its mode of searching for its food, and the shortness of its
wings compared with others of the small raptorial species
already figured, it departs from the characters of the true
Falcons. It is best known, and that too at any moderate
distance, by its habit of sustaining itself in the air in the
same place by means of a short but rapid motion of the
wings, while its powerful eyes search the surface beneath for
mice of different species, which form by far the most considerable
part of its food. It has acquired the name of
Windhover from this habit of remaining with outspread tail
suspended in the air, the head on these occasions always
pointing to windward; and it is also called Stonegall, which
Mr. Mudie suggests should be written Standgale from the
same habit.
Mice, as before stated, certainly form the principal part
of the food of this species; and it appears to obtain them
by dropping suddenly upon them, and thus taking them by
surprise. Montagu says that he never found any feathers
in the stomach of the Kestrel but it is certain that it does
occasionally kill and devour small birds. The remains of
coleopterous insects, their larvae, and earth-worms have been
found in their stomachs; and Mr. Selby, on the authority
of an eye-witness, has recorded the following fact: “ I had
the pleasure this summer of seeing the Kestrel engaged in
an occupation entirely new to me,—hawking after cockchafers
late in the evening. I watched him with a glass, and saw him
dart through a swarm of the insects, seize one in each claw,
and eat them while flying. He returned to the charge again
and again. I ascertained it beyond a doubt, as I afterwards
shot him.”