180 NOVITATES ZOOLOGICAE XXII. 1015. 



smaller, esj)ecially the females ; it is also more constantly very pale, both above and 

 below ; bnt this is not so confidently to be affirmed, because I have now been able 

 to examine ten times as many as of F. b. fani/ptcnis. The wings of fifteen adnlt 

 males measnre 308-324, generally 310-314 ; those of seventeen adnlt females 

 338-359, generally 340-350 mm. ; while in /•". b. tani/pterus the males range from 

 314-325, females 355-373 mm. 



This beantifnl Falcon is the " Lanner" of Africa Minor. It nests near Tanger 

 (North Marocco), and ranges in Tunisia right np to the north, close to the Jlcditei- 

 rauean coasts. Koenig fonnd it breeding on the Djebel Batteria, Erlanger met with 

 it frequently in Central Tunisia, and the dealer Blanc, in the town of Tunis, is 

 freqncntly receiving freshly killed specimens from natives. At the same time 

 Mr. ^Vhitaker writes : " This fine species is a resident in Tunisia, and the commonest 

 of the large Falcons, particularly in the more southern regions." In Algeria we 

 have not with certainty seen or received this Falcon from the north ; the large 

 Falcons from North Algeria which we have e.xamincd were all /'. peregrintis pele- 

 griiwidcs. It nests, however, on the Hants Plateaux between Laghouat and Djelfa, 

 between El-Kautara and Batna, and southwards from the southern slopes of the 

 Atlas regions, far south into the Sahara, iit least to the sonthern slopes of 

 the j)latean of Tademait, where I have seen it dashing through the picturesque 

 gorge of Aiu-Guettara, the " dribbling well," as it is so justly called. 



This Falcon is well known to the Arabs, who still use it for hunting hares and 

 also Bustards, probably also Caccabis and Sandgrouse. This sport, however, has 

 much declined, and apjiears now to be only known as far south as Biskra and 

 Laghouat, and not in the north of Algeria, where the Arab chiefs are too much 

 "civilised" or effeminated. It is, as it was of old iu Europe, of course only the 

 sport of noblemen, as it is essential to have good horses for falconry. It can, 

 therefore, not be practised in the more southern parts of the desert, where 

 horses, on account of the scarcity of water, are rare ; and hard-soiled plains, as on 

 the Hants Plateaux or near Biskra and Laghouat, are essential for fiist riding, 

 while it is impossible among the sand-dunes and in the slippery sebcha plains 

 as well as on the rough hammada. The Arabs call these Falcons " Tair " or 

 " Tail-el-hor," the latter meaning the "Noble Falcon"; they do not, however, seem 

 to distinguish between the Lanner and tiie " Bavbary Falcon," i.e. F. p. pele- 

 grtnoides. In former times falconry was a mnch more beloved and practised 

 sport in Algeria; it was a prerogative of the aristocracy, and, I believe it is still. 

 Certain tribes were particularly called the " hell-el-tair," i.e. falcon-people. 

 8nch were, in the middle of the nineteenth century, according to the late General 

 Margneritte, the Oulad-Mokhtar, Oulad-Chaid, Oulad-Nail, Oiilad-Aissa, and the 

 Bou-Aiche. The celebrated Emir Abd-el-Kader was a great friend of falconry 

 and had an intimate knowledge of the various kinds of falcons ; he distinguished 

 between five different kinds of falcons used for sport. Even then the " Lanner" 

 was the principal falcon used, and they were, among others, caught iu the dayats 

 near Tilrhempt. Hares were chiefly the victims, bnt sometimes even gazelles. 

 Eagles were not used, but the falconers were iu great fear of them, and tried 

 to call their birds back when eagles appeared. In the middle ages northern 

 falcons were introduced into Africa Minor from Scandinavia, as we are told by 

 JIargueritte, who hunted with Abd-el-Kader. 



The nests of F. biarmicus erlamjeri stand chiefly in crevices and large holes 

 or caves on cliffs, sometimes very high, sometimes quite low and easily accessible. 



