296 FALCO PEREGRINLIS. 



supraocular ridge also bare ; the aperture of the ear roundish- 

 elliptical, four-twelfths in width. The feet are robust ; the 

 tibia of moderate length and very muscular, the tarsus short, 

 feathered more than halfway down, and covered all round with 

 reticular scales, of which the anterior are larger and subhexa- 

 gonal ; the toes large ; the first rather long, with six scutella, 

 the second longer, with nine, the third very long, with eighteen, 

 the fourth longer than the second, with ten scutella, and con- 

 nected with the third by a basal web. The claws are large, 

 strong, well-curved, rounded above, considerably compressed, 

 narrow and marginate beneath, with a fine taper point. 



The. plumage is very close and compact on the upper parts, 

 less so on the lower ; the feathers of the head short and oblong, 

 of the back ovate and rounded, of the lower parts ovato-oblong 

 and rounded, of the outer part of the tibia elongated. Even 

 the abdominal feathers and lower tail-coverts are firm, and the 

 plumage is altogether denser and stronger than that of any other 

 British species of this family. The space between the bill and 

 the eye is covered with bristle-pointed plumelets. The wings 

 are pointed and very long ; the quills twenty-three ; the pri- 

 maries of moderate breadth, narrowed toward the end, the first 

 quill with a sinus on the inner web, and half an inch shorter 

 than the second, which is longest, and exceeds the third by four 

 and a half twelfths ; the secondaries are broad, and obtuse, 

 with an acumen. The tail is rather long, exceeds the wings 

 by half an inch, and is slightly rounded, the middle feathers 

 being three quarters of an inch longer than the lateral. 



The bill is pale blue, toward the end bluish-black, tinged 

 with yellow at the base, especially on the lower mandible ; the 

 cere oil-green, the bare orbital space orange-yellow, the iris 

 dark hazel, the feet greenish-yellow, the claws bluish-black. 

 The head, hind-neck, and a large mystachial patch on each 

 side, are black, with a tinge of bluish-grey. The general co- 

 lour of the upper parts is deep bluish-grey, on the back and 

 tail-coverts fading into ash-grey ; the dorsal feathers, wing- 

 coverts, and tail coverts barred with greyish-black. The pri- 

 mary quills are greyish-black, their inner webs marked with 

 reddish -white bars, of which there are fourteen on the first 



