298 FALCO PEREGRINUS. 



black, its anterior feathers tinged with brown, the tint on the 

 back lighter, on the rump ash-grey ; the upper parts barred 

 with greyish-black as in the male ; the transverse spots or bars 

 on the inner webs of all the quills reddish-whit^ ; the tail 

 barred as in the male, wuth the tip reddish-white, and the 

 subterminal dark bar proportionally larger. On the inner web 

 of the first quill are fourteen spots ; on the middle tail-feathers 

 ten, and on the lateral thirteen dark bars. The cheeks and 

 niystachial bands are greyish-black ; the throat and sides of the 

 neck reddish- white ; the general colour of the lower parts 

 reddish- white, richer on the breast, paler behind ; the spots as 

 in the male, but larger, and of a deeper black ; the lower wing- 

 coverts also more largely barred. 



Length to end of tail 19^ inches, extent of wings 42^ ; bill 

 along the ridge 1/j, along the edge of lower mandible 1^ ; 

 wing from flexure 14f ; tail 7 2 ; tarsus 2^^ ' ^^^t toe 1, its 

 claw Ij^ ; second toe I/3, its claw 1 ; third toe 2 j, its claw { l ; 

 fourth toe ij\, its claw |§. 



Variations. — The above descriptions are from a male and a 

 female shot on the Pentland Hills in January 1838, and now 

 in my collection. Variations are observed in size, the males 

 measuring from sixteen to eighteen inches in length, the fe- 

 males from eighteen to twenty-three. In colour, adult males 

 vary little, the head being greyish-black or brownish-black, 

 the bluish-grey of the back deeper or lighter, sometimes ap- 

 proaching to ash-grey behind ; the fore-neck sometimes with- 

 out streaks or spots, sometimes slightly marked ; and the spots 

 and bars on the breast and sides narrower or broader. The 

 females are brownish-grey, greyish-brown, or blackish -grey 

 above, seldom of so light a tint as the males, and generally more 

 obscurely barred. They are always yellowish or reddish be- 

 neath, the tint on the breast being sometimes very rich. The 

 intestinal canal varies considerably in length, as do the coeca, 

 of which I have seen one w^anting. The following table con- 

 tains measurements of the digestive organs in different indivi- 

 duals. 



