Kĕs'trel, n.

n. [See CASTREL, COYSTREL, and COISTRIL.] (Ornith.) A small, slender hawk (Tinnunculus alandarius), of a reddish fawn color, streaked and spotted with white and black. It feeds upon insects and small mammals and birds, is common all over the world, and is also called winhover, and stannel. Yarrell.

☞ This word is often used in contempt, as of a mean kind of hawk. “Kites and kestrels have a resemblance with hawks.” Bacon.