Kestrel n. (Zool.) A small, slender European hawk (Falco alaudarius), allied to the sparrow hawk. Its color is reddish fawn, streaked and spotted with white and black. Also called windhover and stannel. The name is also applied to other allied species. Note: This word is often used in contempt, as of a mean kind of hawk. "Kites and kestrels have a resemblance with hawks."
... its own conveyance through the air, that it can take up and fly away with a whole sheer in its talons, with as much ease as an eagle would carry off, in the same manner, a hare or a rabbit. This we may readily give credit to, from the known fact of our little kestrel and the sparrow-hawk frequently flying off with a partridge, which is nearly three times the weight of these rapacious ... — A History of Aeronautics • E. Charles Vivian
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