on the Birds of Turkey. 73 



Eagles and Falcons, but are very suspicious and ^\\y, and will 

 not settle down until it is quite dark if they have been disturbed 

 by any one passing. We never saw them in the mountains or 

 woods, but always about the sheepfolds and houses in the 

 plain. 



21. MiLvus MIGRANS (Bodd.). Black Kite. 



Extremely common on some parts of the Danube, where it 

 breeds on the islands, which are covered with a dense thicket of 

 willows and a few poplars. In these trees it begins to build in 

 April, and lays, about the first week in May, in a very small nest, 

 which at first sight would not seem large enough for the eggs of 

 a Crow. It is also found in the interior of the country and in 

 the large towns, where it acts as scavenger. 



Two pairs of Black Kites had made their nest on a high 

 plane-tree in one of the busiest streets in Pera, and seemed quite 

 insensible to the noise which was going on all day around 

 them*. 



22. Falco sacer (J. F. Gmelin). Saker. 



As the Peregrine Falcon loves the precipices of the sea-coast 

 or the neighbourhood of large inland waters, and the Lanner 

 prefers the rocky gorges of a desert region, so the Saker finds a 

 congenial home on the open downs and brush-covered hills 

 which cover a large portion of the north of Turkey. In some 

 localities, where the country is of this nature, it is a common 

 bird — so much so that we obtained no less than five of its nests 

 in a very few days. 



Its habits in the breeding-season have been well described by 

 Mr. Farman (Ibis, 1868, p. 459) ; so we will not further enlarge 

 upon them, except to say that' it often chooses an old Vulture's 

 or Eagle's nest, in the centre of which a hole is scratched for 

 the eggs. The male bird sits quite as often as the female; and 

 both are usually seen in the neighbourhood of the nest. Four 



* MiLVus GOviNDA, Sjkes. Pariali Kite. 



M. Alleon informs us that lie lias recently obtained two immature spe- 

 cimens of tliis Indian species near Constantinople during the autumn 

 migration ; and though one would have expected that they might rather 

 have been M. cegyptius, he appears quite confident that he is not mistaken. 

 It has, we believe, never been recorded previously as occurring in Europe, 



