HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



55 



ON THE MARKINGS AND OTHER 

 CHARACTERS OF BRITISH RAPTORES. 



AN inquiry at p. 281 in Science-Gossip for De- 

 cember suggests that a few remarks grounded 

 on observation of several species of hawks may not 

 be unacceptable to young ornithologists. These 

 birds being now rare in most districts, opportunities 

 for inspecting recent specimens are not common. 



The first description, referred to, seems to relate 

 to a kestrel ; the second — wanting an important item, 

 viz., size, may concern a sparrow-hawk — but is too 

 vague to support a reliable opinion. 



Peregrines, hobbies, kestrels and merlins have 

 long and pointed wings, the first or second quill 

 being longer than others ; they have also " the falcon's 

 tooth," a process jutting downwards from either edge 

 of the upper mandible. 



Sparrow-hawks, which Markham and the 7 M eligieuse 

 of St. Alban's would have included with the goshawk 

 as short-winged, have the fourth primary longer than 

 the fifth, which exceeds the third, giving together 

 rounder outline of wing and more lapwing or partridge- 

 like flight. Sparrow-hawks, and the long-winged 

 harriers, have a waved side edge to the upper mandible, 

 the convexity being downwards and placed nearer the 

 base than is the tooth of the Falconidre, that forms 

 their substitute for it. 



Most hawks have increasing tendency to exchange 

 dark shades for lighter tints, and the males of several 

 species to assume a distinctly grey colour instead. 

 Not only do individuals of the same species differ from 

 Others of like age, but do so themselves at different 

 ages, and much confusion has thus been caused. 



The female kestrel, and, if I remember, the young 

 of both sexes, at first, exhibit a warm foxy brown of 

 back, head and tail, the first part being freely sprinkled 

 with black triangles. A long tail projecting more 

 than an inch beyond the folded wings is barred all 

 down ; the halves of such dark traverses are not, 

 however, exactly continuous with their fellows on the 

 opposite web. The ground colour, in front, varies 

 from a dirty white or yellowish grey to a rufous tinge ; 

 the breast markings on this are narrow, vertical, 

 light reddish-brown splashes or streakings ; below, 

 these sometimes run together and expand, after the 

 semblance of knotted cords, like the markings on the 

 blue butterfly's scale. 



The kestrel's head is elongated and flattened on the 

 vertex ; the beak is blue with black tip ; the base 

 being wide with yellow cere across it ; behind this 

 are many bristles. The eyes are large, dark and soft, 

 with yellow edges to the lids. The slightly larger 

 female after moulting retains her peculiarities, but 

 the male gradually acquires a pretty lavender of head 

 and pole finely streaked with vertical black lines ; the 

 back is then a richer cinnamon and with fewer black 

 patches ; the tail grey, with often only one bar ; 

 broad, terminal, and edged below with white. If, 



however, the tail feathers be spread, remains of barr- 

 ing may, perhaps, be found distributed irregularly and 

 chiefly, or entirely on the inner webs — one single spot 

 in several may be seen. A very fine female, in the 

 writer's possession, has the ground colour of the tail 

 approaching a faded grey, the marks much paler than 

 usual, and the back cinnamon almost as brilliant as 

 that usually seen in males. Well-padded, strong, 

 feet are shorter proportionately than those of other 

 falcons, the sparrow-hawk or harriers ; and so are 

 the tarsi, except those of the peregrine.; the talons 

 are straighter and shorter than in the species just 

 mentioned ; weight, male about 65 ounces, length 

 13-15 inches, spread 27 inches. The much heavier 

 female sparrow-hawk is, at least, an inch longer from 

 beak to tail, but little wider of wing. 



Young peregrines show a warmish but less red 

 brown, and their breast markings, at this age, are 

 mostly vertical and of the same hue ; subsequently 

 these are replaced by much darker, horizontal, chevron- 

 like, traverses on breast, abdomen, and on under 

 wing coverts — but quite the upper streakings pass 

 into flask or tear-shaped spots, both becoming fewer 

 and lighter with advancing age, until the breast shows 

 nearly snow-white, a prong of which partly encircles 

 the throat, gorget fashion — above the ends is a 

 dark patch streaming back from either angle of the 

 mouth ; this peculiarity is more or less observable in 

 other falcons. The mature, but still young, peregrine 

 has the head, back and short tail of deep slate colour, 

 closely blotched with bluish black, which at a short 

 distance masks the general colour ; both become 

 lighter. The closed wings reach almost to the end 

 of the tail, which is so folded that a sort of channel 

 down it appears anteriorly. A fine female weighed 

 2 lb. 9 oz., measured 19 in., and spread 42 in. The 

 flesh was hard and very red, the heart large and 

 thick, the ligaments, aponeuroses, and tendons were 

 tough ; the feet very long, tarsi short and strong ; the 

 back toe and claw terrible. This bird was shot 

 stooping at pigeons near a harbour mill ; White's 

 description and Morris's illustration tally closely 

 with it. The only supposed Iceland falcon I recollect 

 to have seen was higher, with longer neck, legs and 

 tail, the latter extending much beyond the wings ; 

 the beak was carried further out and pinched in at 

 the setting on, whereas that of the peregrine, expands 

 widely there. The feet of the hobby and merlin 

 have the relative length of a peregrine, but not the 

 stoutness. The hobby's wings reach quite to the 

 extremity of the tail ; the facial patch is well marked ; 

 the breast streakings are bolder, broader, and darker 

 than those of the kestrel or merlin ; the tail of the 

 latter is long, passing an inch or an inch and a half 

 beyond the wings, and is barred freely with light- 

 coloured traverses, they and the interspaces being 

 nearly of equal width. The female is larger than the 

 male ; the brown colour is lighter than that of the 

 sparrow-hawk, but less red than the kestrel ; the 



