70 



FALCONTDiE. 



surface washed with rufous on their margins ; the upper tail-coverts 

 and under surface more decidedly rufous brown ; crown of head, 

 throat, and cheeks creamy buff, the feathers of the hinder neck, 

 wing-coverts, and centre of breast often showing margins of this 

 colour, giving a streaked appearance and indicating approaching 

 adolescence ; wings brown, the primaries much darker; tail uniform 

 brown, very slightly mottled with rufous. 



Ohs. Both sexes appear to be alike when young, and to pass 

 through the same changes till the adult stage is reached. The latter 

 may be known by the bluish-grey wings and tail. 



Adult male. Above dark brown, with slight remains of rufous 

 margins to the feathers of the upper surface, the least wing-coverts 

 huffy white with dark brown centres ; outer greater coverts, pri- 

 mary coverts, and secondaries bluish ashy, with very slight white 

 tips ; the innermost secondaries brown, more or less washed with 

 ashy grey ; primaries blackish brown, much paler at the tips, creamy 

 white at base of inner web, increasing in extent towards the secon- 

 daries, which are entirely light ashj^ below ; upper tail-coverts white, 

 somewhat washed with grey and tinged with rufous ; tail uniform 

 bluish ash-colour, paler and a little more fulvesceut beneath ; entire 

 head and neck creamy buff, streaked with dark brown, the inter- 

 scapulary region also slightly streaked ; facial ruff" indistinct, being 

 coloured like the rest of the head and neck ; sides of face and throat 

 white with narrow streaks of dark brown, the hinder margin of ear- 

 coverts nearly uniform brown ; under surface of body creamy buff, 

 the breast longitudinally streaked with brown ; the abdomen and 

 thighs more decidedly rufescent, but appearing partially streaked by 

 reason of the fulvous margins to the feathers : under wing-coverta 

 and axillaries uniform huffy white, the latter with a narrow longi- 

 tudinal shaft-line of brown ; cere greenish yellow ; bill blackish ; 

 feet yellow, claws black; iris bright yellow. Total length 22-5 

 inches, culmen 1'55, wing 1(5, tail 10, tarsus 3-4, 



Adult femcde. Slightly larger than male. Total length 23 inches, 

 wing 17, tail 11, tarsus 3-8. 



Rah. Europe generally, seldom north of 60° N. lat., rare in 

 Siberia, but occurring in China, Japan, and the Philippines in winter, 

 as well as the whole of India and N.E. Africa, occurring at that 

 season in S. Africa also. 



a. 2 juv. st. Carmarthenshire. Col. Montagu [P.]. 



b. Juv. var. st. Norfolk. J. Scales, Esq. [P.]. 



c. (S juv. st. Cambridgeshire. Mr. J. Baker [CI. 



d. (S ad. St. Cambridgeshire. Mr. J. Baker | C.l. 



e. 5 juv. St. Cambridgeshire. Mr. J. Baker [C.J. 



f. Ad. var. st. Great Britain. J. Gould, Esq. 



'g. d" ad. St. Europe. D. W. Mitchell, Esq. [P.]. 



h. cj juv. sk. Near Bremen. R. B. Sharpe, Esq. [P.]. 



i. 2 ad. St. Athens. C. W. L. Merlin, Esq. [P.]. 



j. (^ ad. sk. Gennesareth. Canon Tristram [C.l. 



k. c? juv. sk. Gennesareth. Canon Tristram C.J. 



/. S ad. sk. Nepal. B. H. Hodgson, Esq. [P.] 



m, m', m". .liiv. sk. Nepal. B. H. Hodgson, Esq 



P-J- 



