FALCON. 149 



tliin but tough, the inner coat soft without riigsB. In- 

 testine slender, nearly uniform in diameter, and gene- 

 rally having two minute c(jeca near its terminal dilata- 

 tion. 



Nostrils subbasal, lateral, in the fore part of the cere 

 round, with a central papilla, which is joined by a thin 

 plate to the upper edge. Eyes large, overhung by a 

 thin projecting eyebrow ; eyelids generally bare, but 

 edged with bristly feathers. Aperture of the ear round, 

 rather large. 



Head large, round, flattened above; neck short, 

 body compact, rather full, muscular, anteriorly broad 

 and deep; wings long. Legs of moderate length, 

 strong; tibiae rather long and muscular; tarsi short, 

 rounded, covered all round with roundish or angular 

 scales, of which the anterior are larger, broad and sub- 

 hexagonal ; toes strong, scutellate above, scabrous and 

 tuberculate beneath, the third and fourth more or less 

 connected at the base by a membrane ; the middle toe 

 much longer than the fourth, which exceeds the second ; 

 claws curved, tapering, acute, roundish above and on 

 the sides, flat beneath, with two sharp margins, or nar- 

 row and channelled, those of the first and second toes 

 largest, that of the middle toe with an inner sharp 

 edge. 



Plumage compact on the upper parts, on the abdomen 

 loose and soft. Cere bare, space between the bill and 

 eye covered only with radiating bristly feathers. Fea- 

 thers of the head generally narrow and short ; of the 

 neck longish ; of the back and breast broad ; of the outer 

 part of the tibiae elongated. Wings very long, pointed, 

 the second quill longest, the first almost as long ; pri- 



