Kes"trel (?), n. [See Castrel.] 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.

⇒ This word is often used in contempt, as of a mean kind of hawk. "Kites and kestrels have a resemblance with hawks."

Bacon.

© Webster 1913.