FALCO. 0(59 



Mr. E. H. Lane has taken eggs in the Dubbo District, New South Wales, in September, 

 and Dr. \V. MacgilHvray and Mr. \V. McLennan have taken them in the same month, as well 

 as the former finding young, in South-western New South Wales. Mr. C. Ernest Cowle has 

 also taken them in September at Illamurta, in Central Australia. There is no record of 

 the date of Mr. j. B. White finding the specimens on the Upper Thompson River, Queensland. 



Falco subnig-er. 



ULACK FALCON. 



Falco subnir,,',; Gray, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., Vol. XI., p. 371 (IS-t."?) ; Gould, Bds. Austr., fol. 

 Vol. I., pi. 9 (IStS) ; id., Haudbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I,, p. 28 (1865) : Sharpe, Cat. Bds. 

 Brit. Mus., Vol. I., p. .394 (1874) ; id., Hand-1. Bds., Vol. 1., p. 274 (1899). 



Adult male. — G'enrnd colour above awl hpJo/v dark brown, somn of /h,- fea/liers on. the upprr 

 parts ivith paler margins: ,juills blacki^h-brown on their upper, greyish-brown on theAr under surf ace, 

 with whitish bar.i on their inner webs, smaller and less distinct on the .secondaries; tail-feathers dark 

 brown, with a slight greyish shade on the margins of their outer webs : forehead and basal portion 

 of the feathers of the throat dull white: the under tail-cocerts, with bmken bars in the form of 

 oblong spots, of faint bufy-white on either web ; the greater nnjlr wing-corerts greyish-brown and 

 similarly spotted with while : '' bill blue at base, black at the tip : hgs and feet yellowish-grey .- iris 

 •lark brown" (Bennett). Total length 19:5 inches, wing !',■:, tail S-S, bill 11, tarsii.s :?. 



Adult fem.\lr. — ^i)nilar in plumage to the nude. Wing lo-o inches. 



Distribution.— Qu(iens\a.nd, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Central Australia, 

 Western Australia, North-western Australia. 



Al^H E Black Falcon is widely distributed over the greater portion of the Australian continent. 

 J- In Queensland Dr. E. P. Ramsay records '^ that Inspector R. Johnstone noticed it on 

 the tablelands, inland, about forty miles from Cardwell, and on the Seaview Range, and received 

 a specimen obtained by Mr. J. B. White in the Barcoo District. Mr. C. W. De Vis received 

 it in a collection of birds made by the late Mr. Kendal Broadhent on the Bellenden-Ker Range, 

 and the latter has also noted it on the Upper Fitzroy River and Springsure in Central Queensland, 

 and at Chinchilla on the Warrego River, five hundred and twenty miles west of Brisbane. I have 

 also received a specimen from Mr. H. G. Barnard, obtained in a mountain range in Central 

 Queensland. In Western New South Wales, Start obtained it in rocky country on Evelyn 

 Creek, midway between Milparinka and Tibooburra, the bird being " shot in some brushes 

 behind the Depot, where he had been spreading alarm amongst a flight of Parrakeets 

 (Euphciiui boiirkii):'\ The stronghold, however, of this species is apparently the Mossgiel and 

 Lachlan Districts, in the south-western portions of New South Wales, where the late Mr. K. H. 

 Bennett obtained birds and eggs, and who has contributed a most interesting and e.xhaustive 

 account of the habits of this bird to the " Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South 

 Wales." Mr. G. A. Keartland has noted this species at Bacchus Marsh, near Melbourne in 

 Victoria; in the MacDonnell Ranges in Central Australia, from where he has received its eggs, 

 taken by Mr. C. Ernest Cowle, and has also noted it breeding near Lake Way, in Western 

 Australia and the vicinity of the Fitzroy River in North-western Australia. 



Gray's specific name of submgcr is fittingly applicable to this bird, but the recognised 

 vernacular name of Black Falcon is not correct, and is rather misleading. I have adult 

 specimens now before me from Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia, the quills 

 alone of which are dark brown and the upper and under parts much paler, and there is not a 

 black specimen among them ; in fact there are none of them so dark in colour as an immature 



♦ Proc. Zool. boc (1875), P- 579 t Exped Centr. .\ustr , Vol. II , ..^pp p. 14 (1849) 



