22 BRITISH BIRDS. 
times becoming confluent, at others uniformly distributed over the entire 
surface. Some specimens have the markings smoothly and evenly laid 
over the entire surface, giving them the appearance of ground-colour 
which is marbled and more intensified here and there. Another very 
beautiful variety is mottled all over with pale rosy-pink shell-markings, 
intermixed with pale reddish-brown blotches and spots on a creamy-white 
ground ; whilst others have the spots and blotches mostly confined to the 
larger end of the egg, leaving the white under surface exposed to view. 
Jer-Falcons’ eggs are slightly more elongated than Peregrines’, have a 
somewhat rougher shell, and possess little gloss. In size they vary from 
2°4 to 2°2 inches in length, and in breadth from 1°9 to 1°8 inch. 
In the autumn many Jer-Falcons wander southwards; but these are 
mostly birds of the year which may have lost their way, or been tempted 
to follow in the wake of the retreating hordes of wild fowl that go south 
at the approach of winter. 
The female Jer-Falcon (length of wing 16 to 15 inches) may always be 
distinguished from the Peregrine (length of wing 143 to 12 inches) by its 
larger size, and the female Peregrine from either sex of the Jer-Falcon by 
the structure of the feet. In the Peregrine the outer toe without the 
claw is longer than the inner toe without the claw; whilst in the Jer- 
Falcon the outer and inner toes are about equal in length. The tail of 
the Jer-Falcons is also uniform in ground-colour, whilst in that of the 
Peregrine the bars are obscurer towards the tip, making the general 
colour darker at the tip than at the base. 
Sharpe’s very ingenious theory, that the intermediate forms between the 
White Jer-Falcon and the South-Greenland Jer-Falcon are an interme- 
diate stage of plumage between the young in first plumage and the adult, 
is entirely unsupported by evidence; indeed the existence of young in 
first plumage of each form is strong proof to the contrary, to say nothing 
of the fact that his supposed intermediate stage of plumage remains con- 
stant for years in confinement. 
In the ‘ Zoologist’ for 1867 (p. 597) Mr. W. Jeffery records the occur- 
rence of a “ Buzzard” which was brought into Chichester Harbour by a 
coal-vessel. It was caught in the rigging of the ship when off Flamborough 
Head. Mr. Gurney, in the ‘ Zoologist’ for 1875 (p. 4721), alludes to this 
capture, and corrects the statement. The bird in question was sent to the 
Zoological Gardens, and was ascertained to be a Jugger Falcon (Falco 
jugger). As this Falcon is very commonly used in India for hawking, 
it was most probably an escaped bird, although the circumstance is 
worth recording. 
XQ 
