observed in the Islands of Malta andGozo. 47 



arrives at the same seasons as the others. It is most abundant 

 in April, when it is a conspicuous feature on a spring morning, 

 gliding noiselessly over the open country in quest of insects, 

 lizards, and small birds, the remains of which I have frequently 

 found in its maw. In a large series which I have collected of 

 these birds, the grey bars over the rump are very distinctly marked 

 in the adult males, some of which have the chest and all the 

 under part of the body of a pure white ; others have the chest 

 pale grey ; while others, again, probably immature males, have 

 the chest marked with more or less fine brown striae. 



13. AsTUR Nisus. (Sparrow-Hawk.) 

 Falkett, Maltese. 



Pretty common in spring and autumn, and seen occasionally 

 throughout the summer and winter. It is most frequently met 

 with in October and November. 



14. ? AsTUR GABAR. (Little Red-billed Hawk.) 



This African and rare European bird was said by the late 

 Mr. Hugh Strickland [vide Bree, vol. i. p. 52) to have been 

 found in Malta ; and I admit it here on his authority. 



15. AsTUR PALUMBARius. (Goshawk.) 



According to Schembri, occasionally seen in the summer and 

 autumn months ; but I have never met with it myself. 



16. Falco peregrinus. (Peregrine Falcon.) 

 BieSy Maltese. 



Appears in spring and autumn, and occasionally at other sea- 

 sons. I have a female which was caught in a net on the 26th 

 December, 1860. A young male in my collection was killed on 

 the 23rd October, 1861, and a female was taken alive on the 1st 

 November of the same year. The Peregrine has been known to 

 breed in precipitous rocks on the south coast of Malta and Gozo. 

 For several years a pair nested and brought up their young in 

 an inaccessible cliff near Casal Zurrico. 



17. ? Falco barbarus, Linn. 

 Syn. F. punicus, Gen. Levaillant. 



A specimen of this interesting bird was, according to ' The Ibis ' 



