Miyratory Birds of Madeira and the Canaries. 165 



man, and was quite fresh. He told me that he saw the old 

 bird fly from the nest, which he said was quite low down the 

 cliff and easy of access. 



Vernon Harcourt mentions this Vulture as occurring occa- 

 sionally in Madeira. I never heard of it in the Azores, nor do 

 I believe it ever occurs there. 



2. Ealco peregrinus, Linn. 



Falco peregrinus, W. & B. Orn. Can. p. 5 ; Bolle, J. fiir Orn. 

 1854, p. 449, and 1857, p. 270. 



I never met with this bird, though both Berthelot and Bolle 

 say it is found in some of the Canaries ; Vernon Harcourt does 

 not mention it in his list of the resident birds of Madeira. 



3. Falco subbuteo, Linn. 



Falco subbuteo, W. & B. Orn. Can. p. 6; Bolle, J. fiir Orn. 



1854, p. 449; Vern. Hare. Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 2nd ser. 



1855, XV. p. 437. 



Bolle omits this species in his second paper on the Canary- 

 Island birds, though in his first he says the Hobby is not un- 

 frequently met with in the eastern islands, where its favourite 

 food is the Skylark [Alauda arvensis). I never saw it myself. 

 MM. Webb and Berthelot say that it is to be found throughout 

 the archipelago. In Madeira it is a straggler. 



4. TiNNUNCULUS ALAUDARIUS (Gm.). 



Falco tinnunculus, L. ; W. & B. Orn. Can. p. 6; Bolle, J. fiii- 

 Orn. 1854, p. 449, and 1857, p. 272; Vern. Hare. Ann. & 

 Mag. Nat. Hist. 2nd ser. 1855, xv. p. 437. 



The Kestrel is exceedingly common in both Madeira and the 

 Canaries, where it feeds principally upon lizax'ds, which are 

 very numerous. I secured a good series of specimens of both 

 sexes and various ages. The mature females assume a grey 

 tail at the end of the first year, but, unlike the males, this is 

 always crossed with narrow bars. The male appears to get the 

 grey tail at the same age. The plumage of the young birds is 

 remarkably dark. It breeds in holes in the cliffs; and I have 

 seen as many as twelve or fifteen pairs that had nested in the 

 same ravine, where they appear not to interfere with each other. 



The characters I have briefly drawn attention to above 



