. An illustrated manual of British birds . ented by this and the larger speciesbeing often covered with an accumulation of wing-cases and ejectedpellets of indigestible matter; small lizards are also eaten. The cryhas been syllabled as vev-ai, and also ^spsche,psc/i, psche, wsche. The Lesser Kestrel much resembles our common species, but issmaller in size and has white claivs. The male has no black spotson the back, and the innermost secondaries are slate-grey insteadof chestnut. Length 12 in. ; wing 9 in. The female can only bedistinguished from the Kestrel by her smaller size and her whitecl
. An illustrated manual of British birds . ented by this and the larger speciesbeing often covered with an accumulation of wing-cases and ejectedpellets of indigestible matter; small lizards are also eaten. The cryhas been syllabled as vev-ai, and also ^spsche,psc/i, psche, wsche. The Lesser Kestrel much resembles our common species, but issmaller in size and has white claivs. The male has no black spotson the back, and the innermost secondaries are slate-grey insteadof chestnut. Length 12 in. ; wing 9 in. The female can only bedistinguished from the Kestrel by her smaller size and her whiteclaws ; length 13 in. ; wing 9^3 in. From the walls of the cathedral of Seville, I took an unusuallylarge hen bird off a clutch of much incubated eggs of the CommonKestrel, and, rashly assumin* that she was necessarily their rightfulowner, I hinted—in print—that the two species might possiblyinterbreed. This was nearly twenty years ago, and I have regrettedit ever since, for there is no evidence that such is the case. FALCON I D.«. 347. THE OS PREY. Pandion haliaetus (Linnteus). The Osprey is not uncommon as a visitor to the sea-shores andinland waters of our islands, especially in autumn ; and no fewerthan ten were recorded between the Tyne and the Thames in themonths of September and October i8Si ; but the majority of thesevisitors are immature birds, some of which remain on our coastsuntil the beginning of June. Estuaries are favourite haunts, andin those of Sussex and Hants it is known as the Mullet-Hawk,owing to its partiality for that fish. Tradition states that it formerlybred on the south coast of England, and according to Heysham itdid so near Ullswater until the end of the last century ; in Gallowaythere were at least two eyries up to about i860, but at the presentday those which are known to exist in Scotland are confined to theHighlands, where their safetv depends upon i)rotcction and the Hebrides, Orkneys and Shetlands, the Osprey is only anaccidental
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