28 BIRDS or AUSTRALIA. 



The stomach is large and membranous ; and the food 

 consists of birds, principally of the Duck tribe. 



The sexes present the usual difference in size, the male 

 being considerably smaller than the female. 



The male has the head, cheeks, and back of the neck deep 

 brownish black ; the feathers of the upper surface, wings, and 

 tail alternately crossed with equal-sized bands of deep grey 

 and blackish brown ; outer edges of the primaries uniform 

 blackish brown, their inner webs obscurely barred with light 

 buff; throat and chest delicate fawn-colour, passing into 

 reddish grey on the abdomen ; tail-feathers ornamented with 

 oval-shaped spots of dark brown ; abdomen, flanks, under 

 surface of the wing, and under tail-coverts reddish grey, 

 crossed by numerous irregular bars of blackish brown ; bill 

 light bluish lead- colour at the tip, becoming much lighter at 

 the base ; cere, legs, and feet yellow ; claws black. 



The female differs from the male in being larger in all her 

 proportions, and in having the throat and chest more richly 

 tinted with fulvous, which, colour also extends over the 

 abdomen, the feathers of which are not so strongly barred with 

 brown as in the male. 



The young of the first year have the breast longitudinally 

 striped, instead of barred, as is the case with the young of the 

 Peregrine. 



Sp. 9. FALCO SUBNIGER, G. JR. Gray. 



Black Falcon. 



Falco suhniger, Gray, in Ann. Nat. Hist. 1843, p. 371. 

 Falco [Hierofulco) subniger, Kaup, Isis, 1847, p. 76. 



Falco suhniger, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. i. pi. 9. 



During the long interval which has elapsed since I first 

 figured this bird in the folio edition of the ' Birds of Australia ' 

 no additional information has been obtained respecting this 

 rare species of Falcon. Nothing is known of its habits, and 



