KESTREL FALCON. 327 



culate and papillate beneath, the third and fourth connected 

 by a very short basal web ; the first toe short, with seven scu- 

 tella, the second of the same length as the fourth, with nine, 

 the third with sixteen, the fourth with eleven scutella. The 

 claws are moderately curved, long, rather slender, narrowed 

 beneath, tapering to a fine point. 



The cere is partially bare above, as is the lower eyelid : the 

 feathers on the loral space and at the base of the bill, bristle- 

 tipped. On the head, the feathers are short, ovato-oblong, 

 and rather rounded ; on the neck more elongated ; on the back 

 broadly oblong and obtuse ; on the lower parts also all the 

 feathers are oblong, on the sides of the body and outer part of 

 the tibia elongated. The wings are long, of moderate breadth, 

 narrowed toward the end ; the primary quills of moderate 

 strength, tapering, and obtuse ; the second longest, the third 

 about a twelfth shorter, the first more than three quarters of 

 an inch shorter than the third ; the first and second with the 

 inner web abruptly cut out toward the end ; the secondary 

 quills thirteen, broad, and rounded. The tail is long, round- 

 ed, the lateral feathers an inch and a quarter shorter than the 

 middle. 



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

 at the base tinged with yellow ; the cere and bare parts about 

 the eye pale orange. The palate flesh coloured, its sides pale 

 blue. Irides hazel. Tarsi and toes orange ; claws black ; 

 tinged with bluish-grey at the base. The feathers of the upper 

 part of the head, and hind part and sides of the neck are light 

 greyish-blue, each with a dusky shaft-line ; the cheeks are of 

 the same colour tinged with yellow ; some of the frontal 

 feathers are yellowish. The lower part of the hind-neck, the 

 back, and the upper wing coverts are light red, each with the 

 shaft dusky, and a triangular greyish-black spot near the end. 

 The primary quills and their coverts are greyish-black tinged 

 with brown, margined with paler, their inner webs with 

 numerous white bars confluent on the margins, there being 

 eight on the first quill ; the outer secondary quills are similar, 

 and the inner gradually become like the feathers of the back. 

 The rump, upper tail-coverts, and tail, are light greyish-blue, 



