not obsei'ved in the British Isles.' 87 



taken in Lincolnshire : but we know of no other instance of its 

 occurrence here unaccompanied by considerable doubt. Its 

 proper habitat, besides central and southern Europe^ appears to 

 be North Africa ; and it is often sent from the neighbourhood of 

 Tangiers. It also occurs in Egypt, where, however, the very 

 nearly allied F. biarmicus of Temminck is also found. It is 

 certainly distinct from the F. barbarus of Linnseus, and, as 

 Dr. Schlcgel says, also from the F. peregrindides of Sir Andrew 

 Smith, a truly South African bird. The Saker is most likely 

 the large falcon used in the Lebanon and on the plains of 

 Assyria for taking hares and antelopes; its nearest ally seems to 

 be the F. jugger of Dr. Gray, which wanders occasionally from 

 India, its proper home, to Egypt, where it has been called F. 

 tanypterus by the late Dr. Lichtenstein. 



We regret that our author has not given figures of the Eleo- 

 nora Falcon {Hypotriorchis eleoyiorae, G. R. Gray) in the extremes 

 of both plumages; for the only two plates of it are in works 

 not by any means accessible to most European naturalists. We 

 have heard a curious story relating to this species breeding, some 

 years ago, in society on an island off the Algerine coast, which 

 was turned into a convict-station by the French government, to 

 the utter destruction of the whole colony, every bird being 

 turned into gibier by the new settlers. Of the Lesser Kestrel 

 {Tinnunculus cenchris, Frisch) we have nothing particular to 

 remark, excepting that its eggs are generally found represent- 

 ing those of the Orange-legged Hobby {Erythropus vespertinus, 

 Brehm) in most collections. 



Mr. Bree has included the South African Red-legged Hawk 

 {Micronisus gabar, G. R. Gray), upon good grounds ; but in his list 

 of its synonyms he has comprehended "Sparvius niger, Vieillot; 

 Gal. des Ois. i. 22," and " Accipiter niger, Gould, Syn. B. of 

 Australia, pt. 3. pi. [43.] f. 1." Now both these refer to a 

 perfectly distinct race, or probably species — the Sooty Hawk, 

 which differs altogether from the former both in colouring and 

 range. Our author remarks with regard to this species, " There 

 is no point about which we should be more rigorously careful 

 than simplicity in nomenclature." In answer to this we 

 say that simplicity is not promoted l)y such an inaccuracy as 



