Part 53

Upper parts reddish brown; the feathers with pale edges, those of the head and neck long, and tapering to a point, greyish white, streaked lengthways with brown; under parts rust-colour with longitudinal brown streaks; tail reddish orange, barred indistinctly with brown; beak horn-colour; cere, irides, and feet yellow; claws black. Female: upper parts a deeper brown, the feathers pale at the extremity; head and neck white. Length, twenty-five inches.

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The kite, or glead, is another melancholy example of the effect of the pitiless persecution of some of our finest birds by game-preservers, and, as the species became rare, by collectors of ‘British-killed’ specimens and ‘British-taken’ eggs. Once a common species in the British Islands, it is now reduced to a miserable remnant, composed of a few breeding pairs in Wales and Scotland.

Among the various types of diurnal birds of prey, the kite is one of the finest; the great extent of his sharp-pointed wings and his long, forked tail, fit him for an aërial life. In appearance he is a swallow-shaped eagle; and few birds equal him in grace and majesty of motion when he soars at a vast height. Like the eagles, buzzards, and other strong-fliers among the raptors, he soars for exercise and recreation; but, vulture-like, when soaring he is ever on the watch for a meal. And, like the vulture, he will feed on garbage; for though of so noble an appearance, and possessed of such great power, he has, compared with the falcons, a poor spirit, and his name is a term of reproach that signifies cowardice and rapacity. A carrion-eater, he also preys on small mammals, reptiles, and birds, in most cases the young, the sickly, or wounded.

The nest of the kite is placed in a tree, and is a bulky structure of sticks, mixed with much rubbish--bones, turf, scraps of paper, and old rags--and is lined with wool and moss. Two to four eggs are laid, three being the usual number. In size, colour, and markings they closely resemble those of the buzzard.

Peregrine Falcon.

Falco peregrinus.

Upper parts dark bluish grey, with darker bands; head bluish black, as are also the moustaches descending from the gape; under parts white; breast transversely barred with brown; beak blue, darker at the point; cere yellow; iris dark brown; feet yellow; claws black. Female: upper plumage tinged with brown, the under parts with reddish yellow. Length, fifteen inches; female, seventeen inches.

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This famed bird is of a handsome appearance, not swallow-like as is the kite, nor so massive as the eagle; but nature in fashioning it has observed the golden mean, and the result is a being so well-balanced in all its parts and so admirably adapted for speed, strength, and endurance, that to many minds it has seemed the most perfect among winged creatures. When standing perched on a crag, erect and motionless, as its custom is, its smooth and compact figure looks as if carved out of a stone or marble of a beautiful soft grey tint. The wings are sharp-pointed, and the flight is exceedingly rapid. In South America, where I first observed its habits, it used always to seem to me that the peregrine, alone among hawks, possessed a courage commensurate with its strength; and, in hunting, an infallible judgment. However swift of wing its quarry might be, it was almost invariably overtaken and struck to the earth; and the bird thus vanquished was in many cases the equal, and sometimes even the superior, in weight to the falcon. All other hawks make frequent mistakes, and often fail in their efforts: they chase birds they cannot overtake, and attack others that are too strong for them; and occasionally their courage fails, and they pass by the healthy and strong to attack the wounded or weak that are incapable of making an effort.

In the British Islands the peregrine is an inhabitant of the iron-bound coasts, where it is still able to find comparatively safe breeding-sites. It makes no nest, the eggs being deposited in a slight hollow scratched in the soil on a ledge of a cliff. When it breeds in a tree it makes use of the deserted nest of some other bird. Two to four eggs are laid, yellowish white in ground-colour, mottled and spotted with reddish brown and orange-brown.

The peregrine preys almost exclusively on birds--ducks, waders, pigeons, grouse, partridges--and it has been seen to kill kestrels, jays, and magpies.

It has a sharp, powerful cry, uttered two or three times in rapid succession on the wing.

Hobby.

Falco subbuteo.

Upper parts bluish black; under parts reddish yellow with longitudinal brown streaks; moustaches broad, black; lower tail-coverts and legs reddish; beak bluish, dark at the tip; cere greenish yellow; iris dark brown; feet yellow; claws black. Female: colours less bright, and the streaks below broader. Length, twelve to fourteen inches.

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The hobby in appearance is a lesser peregrine, being about one-fifth smaller than that bird. It differs from the peregrine in having a softer plumage and a comparatively greater length of wing. It is probably the fastest flier among rapacious birds, being capable of the marvellous feat of capturing swallows and martins in the air. It is a summer visitant to this country, and is most often met with in the southern counties of England, where, however, it is a rare species; and the farther north we go the rarer it becomes. In Scotland it is not known to breed, and it does not range to Ireland. It inhabits woods, and breeds in an old nest of the carrion crow, jay, or some other bird, which it does not re-line. Three eggs are usually laid, and in some rare instances four or five. In size and colour they are not distinguishable from those of the kestrel.

The hobby is a spirited bird, but in courage and power greatly inferior to the peregrine. He preys principally on dragon-flies, beetles, and other large insects, and on small birds, such as skylarks and buntings. In falconry, the hobby was trained to fly at such small game as larks, snipe, and quail.

Merlin.

Falco æsalon.

Upper parts greyish blue; under parts reddish yellow with longitudinal dark brown spots; tail barred with black; beak bluish, darker at the tip; cere yellow; iris dark brown; feet yellow; claws black. Female: upper parts tinged with brown; lower parts yellowish white. Length, eleven to twelve inches.

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The merlin is a third less than the peregrine in size, and has the distinction of being the smallest of the British birds of prey, But in courage it is second to none, and Yarrell relates an instance in which this small bird, weighing itself no more than six ounces, struck down and killed a partridge twice as heavy. It is a resident throughout the year of the British Islands, from the north of Yorkshire to the Shetlands, and the mountainous parts of Ireland.

The merlin is an inhabitant of the moors and mountains, and nests on the ground among the tall heather. The eggs are laid in a slight hollow with little or no lining, and are four or five in number, smaller than those of the kestrel, but similar in colour. It sometimes, but very rarely, breeds in the nest of a carrion crow or other bird, in a tree.

It preys chiefly on small birds, and it was formerly trained to pursue snipe, pigeons, larks, blackbirds, &c.

Kestrel, or Windhover.

Tinnunculus alaudarius.