232 A Description of the Birds 



Stirps. FALCONINA. (FALCONS.) 



Rostrum brevet bnsi adunewn; alee longa; retnex secunda 

 longissima. 



Beak short, hooked from the base ; wings long ; the second 

 quill feather longest. 



Genus. FALCO Auctorum. FALCON. 



Beak short, the upper man- 

 dible strongly dentate, the 

 under emarginate. Acrotarsia 

 reticulated. Wings with the 

 second quill longest, the first 

 and second strongly emargi- 

 nate internally near the tip. 



Rostrum breve; mandibula 

 superior fortiter dentata, infe- 

 nore emwrginata. Acrotarsia 

 reticulata. Remex secunda 

 longissima, prima ct secunda 

 propi apicem interne fortiter 

 'marginata. 



Falco frontalis. Daud. 



Falco galericulatus, Shaw, vol.7, p. 149 — Le Faucon Huppe, 

 Le Vaillant, Ois d'Afriq. pi. 28. 



F. cristatus, crista brunnea, dorsum plumbeum et plumde H- 

 neis longiludinalibus nigris; subtus albo, flavescens et fasciis 

 brunneo nigris transversis notatus ; cauda grisea, nigra fasciata. 



Male. — Bill bluish at base, and black at tip; cere yellow; 

 eyes orange yellow ; head crested, the latter of a brownish 

 color ; behind the angle of the mouth on each side a longitu- 

 dinal blackish brown streak or blotch ; back bluish gray, the 

 feathers each with a dark streak in the course of the vane, 

 and with transverse dusky bands, besides light bluish white 

 edgings and tips ; sides of neck dirty white, with a slight 

 tinge of tawny ; chin and throat tawny white ; breast and 

 belly the same, and crossed by narrow black bands, as are 

 also the feathers of the thighs. Primary quill feathers black- 

 ish ; secondaries deep bluish gray, with blackish transverse 

 bands, and all broadly tipt with the same color as the back. 

 Tail grayish, with seven or eight transverse narrow black 

 bands, and all the feathers tipt with light grayish white; legs 

 and toes yellowish ; claws black. Size that of the common 

 pigeon. 



Female. — Crest shorter than that of the male, ahd her size 

 nearly a fourth larger. 



Young. — All the colors exhibit somewhat of a yellowish 

 tinge, and the dirty white of the chin, throat, and breast is 

 variegated with red and grayish brown ; the crest does not 

 appear till some months after it leaves the nest. 



This bird inhabits the borders of lakes, the sea shore, and 

 the banks of rivers abounding with fish; which last, together 



