50 SKETCHES OF EUROPEAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



larger ; the ground colour of various shades of brown, always 

 blotched and spotted with darker brown." Feeds on half-decom- 

 posed animal matters, refuse from ships, marine Crustacea, &c. The 

 female is somewhat smaller than the male. The white on the head 

 and neck of adults becomes grey in winter. The young are mottled 

 grey and white. 



Sand Swallow, Hirundo riparia, — Hirondelle de-rivage, Fr. — 

 Rondine riparia, It. — Ulfer Schwalbe, G. The birds are well fi- 

 gured, and the species is common and well-known. We have seen 

 a light-coloured variety. 



Corn Bunting, Emberiza miliaria, — Bruant proyer, Fr. — Grau 

 Ammer, G. The plate represents, of the " bigness of life," as ho- 

 nest George Edwards would say, an adult male. It is too large and 

 thick, but otherwise good. Some communications relative to the 

 distribution of the Corn Bunting in England, puHished in The Na- 

 turalist, No. XII., for Sept. 1837, prove that it is neither so gener- 

 ally nor so abundantly distributed with us as commonly imagined. 



Part XIV. — Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus, — Faucon pe- 

 lerin, Fr. — Sparviere pellegrino, It. — Wander Falke, G. Although 

 we certainly can have little to find fault with in the figures, repre- 

 senting an adult and a young bird of the natural size, we should not 

 have guessed they were from the pencil of Mr. Lear, but for his 

 name appearing on the plate. They are not hit off with his usual 

 boldness, and the birds look too much like the dull inhabitants of a 

 prison. Otherwise their form and colour are unexceptionable. Mr. 

 Gould is inclined to consider the Peregrine Falcon of Europe and 

 America distinct species, though the point is by no means settled. 

 " In England this beautiful Falcon remains the whole year : it ap- 

 pears to give preference to the bold rock)' cliffs that border the sea, 

 in the most inaccessible parts of which it builds its eyrie, generally 

 laying four eggs, of a uniform dark red colour." The young birds 

 only acquire their adult plumage with the fourth or fifth year, and 

 the remarkable changes they undergo have occasioned the synonyms 

 attached to individuals in different stages. The elegance and rapi- 

 dity of the Peregrine Falcon's flight is well known, and it feeds on 

 various birds, giving the preference to Ducks, Teal, &c. The male 

 is smaller than the female, and more blue on the upper parts. The 

 young of the year have the upper surface brown, each feather being 

 tipped with a lighter hue. 



Common Goldwing, Carduelis elegans, — Grosbec chardonneret, 

 Fr. — Distel Zeisig, G. We are certain either that Mr. Gould 

 thinks he has failed in his representations — the figures, of an adult 



