206 Rev, J. Sibree, Jr., on the 



pretty certain that the Kestrel was formerly worshipped, and 

 a small piece of the legs or wings or body was given by the 

 diviners to be used as a charm, or presented as a sort of sacri- 

 fice, when praying to the idols. Many of the ignorant 

 Malagasy still venerate the bird and make supplication 

 to it.'' 



Another Hawk worth noticing, although much less com- 

 mon than the two previously mentioned ones, is the Vbro- 

 mahery, or Lesser Peregrine Falcon [Falco minor), a small but 

 very courageous bird, which has long attracted the attention 

 of the Malagasy for its swiftness and fearlessness. Mr. W. D. 

 Cowan observes, " There is a marked difference in the way 

 the Papkngo hunts, circling lazily over a village, from that 

 of the Voromahery, which out of the invisible height drops 

 like a thunderbolt upon his prey. The Papango swoops with 

 wings expanded ; the Voromahery drops with closed wings.'' 

 Its native name, which means " Powerful bird," is also that 

 of the tribe of Hova Malagasy who inhabit the capital 

 and its near neighbourhood. Probably from that circum- 

 stance this Falcon has been adopted as a kind of crest or 

 emblem by the central Government, and used to be engraved 

 on the official seals. Large metal figures of a bird, popu- 

 larly supposed to be the Voromahery, are fixed on the ridge 

 of the roofs of the two largest royal palaces, and also over 

 the palace gateway. These figures, however, have a crest of 

 seven feathers, similar to that which surmounts the crown 

 of the Malagasy queens. One of the proverbs referring to 

 this Falcon has already been quoted in speaking of the 

 Kestrel (see above p. 205). Another says: "Falcon's eggs 

 on the face of the cliff : that which screams out is its 

 young." 



Many of the Malagasy Hawks and Falcons are very hand- 

 some birds, beautifully marked with horizontal bars of alter- 

 nate light and dark colour on the breast, belly, and tail. But 

 perhaps the most handsome of them all is the Rayed Gymno- 

 gene {Polyboroides madagascariensis) , the male of which is of 

 a pearly grey colour barred with black, while on the tail- and 

 quill-feathers are broad bands of pure white and intensely 



