66 
of authentic eggs of this species taken by himself in the Eastern 
Atlas: 1:91 by 1°62, 1:87 by 1:5, and 2°04 by 1:56. Again 
the eggs of the Eleonora Falcon, a bird fully as long as, though 
slighter built than, the true Lanner, I find figured from 1-7 to 
1-85 in length, and from 1°3 to 1-4 in breadth. I submit that 
Mr. Cochrane’s two nests of large eggs: Istly. Certainly belonged 
to Falcons; 2ndly. Did not, as he says, belong to Peregrinus, 
Perigrinator &c. which have not red or reddish heads ;* 3rdly. 
Could not, on account of their size, have belonged to either Bar- 
barus or Lanarius, which have red heads ; and 4thly. Did, consider- 
ing the locality, most probably belong to Pulco Sacer. Lower 
Egypt is quite within the range of Sacer, I have seen a specimen 
shot, not far from the pyramids, and Mr. E. C. Taylor procured a 
fine female near Girgeh. Itis common in northern Arabia, and 
was observed by the Rev. H. Tristram once in the oak forests 
of Bashan ; although, as he says, it prefers the wide plains and 
deserts to the cliffs of the Jordan valley, and he adds: “ The 
sheikhs of the Beni Sakk’r (sons of the Falcon) make it a point 
of distinction to possess several of these birds trained for the 
chase of the Gazelle, and the distinction between it and the 
Lanner is well known to all the Arabs.” 
In his notes on the birds observed in his first visit to Pales- 
tine, the Rev. H. B. Tristram had remarked (Ibis for 1859) : 
“‘On one occasion while riding with an Arab guide, I observed 
a Falcon of large size rise close to us. The guide, when I point- 
ed it out to him, exclaimed ‘ Tair sakgr.’ Tair, the Arabic for 
‘bird’ is universally throughout North Africa and the Hast, ap- 
plied to those Falcons which are capable of being trained for 
hunting, ¢. e. ‘the bird,’ par excellence. Tair el Hohr, ‘the 
noble bird,’ is the common appellation of the Peregrine and its 
congeners. ‘ Sakqr,’ I have only heard applied to the very large 
Falcons, never to the . Peregrinus or F. Punicus, both of which 
are trained by the Arabs for the chase. No doubt our specific 
name ‘ uleo Sacer’ is derived not from a Latin source, but 
from the Arabic trivial name of the species. There seems as 
yet much confusion in the nomenclature of the different larger 
species or races, which to the south and east of the Mediterra- 
nian take the place of the F. Greenlandicus, islandicus, and nor- 
wegicus of the North. The bird which I saw was nearly as large as 
aJer Falcon, and hada very bright rufous head, the light colour 
extending to the back of the neck. How far F. Sacer; lanarius, 
cervicalis, biarmicus, and cherrug are distinct species, and what 
* Adult, but not very old Sacers, appear as they fly, and even when 
sitting at no great distance, to have dingy fulvous red heads. I have repeated~ 
ly noticed this. 
