280 M. Menzbier on the Birds of European 



It is very common in all tlie northern and central portions 

 of the country, more rare about the northern limits of the 

 southern steppes, and only local in the last-mentioned locality. 

 In the valley of the Lower Volga it breeds as far south as the 

 mouth o£ that river, but it is not known to Avinter in any part 

 of Russia. 



Falco peregrinus. 



The Peregrine Falcon is so variable in its dimensions and 

 shades of colour that it is very difficult to distinguish the 

 types in their variations. An attempt was made by Pastor 

 Chr. L. Brehm, who established four types of Falco pere- 

 grinus — F. p. abiei'mus, F. p. cornicum, F. p. griseiventris, 

 F. p. leucogenys ; but Brehm's types of the Peregrine Falcon 

 have not been accepted in science. In the course of several 

 years I have examined nearly 300 specimens of the Pere- 

 grine Falcon from different parts of the Old World, and, 

 judging from these, I should say that in the Northern Palae- 

 arctic Region we have two specifically distinct forms of the 

 Peregrine Falcon, these forms being very distinct from 

 each other in their different ages, and having geograjihical 

 ranges, comparatively, very clearly defined : these are Falco 

 peregrinus and F. leucogenys. I am convinced also that 

 the specimens of F. peregrinus from Western Europe are very 

 variable in character, and that specimens of this bird from 

 Russia and Northern Asia are more constant. So far as I 

 can judge from the examples which I have examined, there 

 are three races of the Peregrine Falcon existing on the con- 

 tinent of Europe and the northern half of Asia — F. p. grisei- 

 ventris, F. p. cornicum, and F. p. brevirostris, the first two of 

 which were described thirty years ago by Brehm, and the 

 last-mentioned by me two years ago. 



I now propose briefly to describe the principal characters 

 of plumagewhich I have found in the three above-mentioned 

 races of F. peregrinus. 



(A) Falco peregrinus griseiventris. 

 Adult male. Above delicate bluish grey, only indistinctly 

 barred Avith dark grey on the rump and with darker-coloured 



