FALCONID^ FALCO 271 



abdomen with elongate brown spots, throat and under tail-coverts 

 unspotted, thighs with brown shaft streaks. 



Distribution. — The South African Lanner is fairly common 

 in suitable localities throughout South Africa and extends north- 

 wards to Angola, Nyasaland and Central Africa as far as Victoria 

 Nyanza at any rate, perhaps to Abyssinia ; here, however, it meets 

 the very closely-allied F. tanypterus which is spotted below to a 

 certain extent even in old birds and the exact boundary of the 

 rauges of the two species is not yet accurately demarcated. 



The following are some of the principal South African localities : 

 Cape Colony — Worcester, Caledon, Beaufort West, Peddie, and 

 Orange river near Upington (S. Afr. Mus.), Albany div. (Grahams- 

 town Mus.), Eland's Post in Stockenstroom (Atmore), Golesberg 

 Ortlepp), Little Namaqualand (Andersson), Latakoo near Kuru- 

 man (Brit. Mus.) ; Natal — Eare in coast country (Ayres), common 

 in the midlands and highlands (Woodward), Newcastle (Gates and 

 Feilden) ; Transvaal — Lydenburg and Potchefstroom (Ayres and 

 S. A. Mus.) ; Rhodesia — Tati river (Holub), Mashonaland (Ayres 

 and Marshall); German south-west Africa — Throughout (Anders- 

 son), Omaruru (Eriksson in S. A. Mus.). 



Habits. — The South African Lanner is usually found in 

 mountainous districts, where it has its eyrie on some inaccessible 

 cliif and whence it sets forth daily after its prey. It is extraordinarily 

 rapid on the wing and will often follow a party out partridge- 

 shooting, dashing down on wounded birds and carrying them off 

 if possible ; it is also a scourge to the poultry yard and dove-cot. 

 Small mammals, reptiles, and even grasshoppers are also eaten. 



Mr. Ayres found the Lanner breeding in the Lydenburg district 

 of the Transvaal in June and July, but gives no details. 



Butler found a nest containing young birds in down in a kloof 

 in the Drakensberg near Newcastle on August 18. The nest was a 

 good sized stick-structure and built in a small green bush on the 

 side of a precipitous cliff within six feet of the summit, but in an 

 inaccessible situation, ou account of an overhanging ledge of rock 

 which completely covered it from above. The chicks were but a 

 few days old and were covered with white down. The nest looked 

 as if it w^as an eyrie of long standing and had probably been used 

 by the same pair of birds for several years. 



Ayres kept for some time a pair of young birds, which he found 

 became very tame and docile. 



