30 



FALCONID^E. 



Europe, 

 wintering in 

 S. Africa and 

 Madagascar. 



Greenland to 

 Alaska. 



I v 



Iceland, 

 S. Greenland. 



Young. Above brown ; nape mottled with white ; feathers of back 

 edged with rufous brown ; below white, barred with rufous brown ; iris 

 pale yellow. 



166. RED KITE. Milvus ictinus, Savigny. Sylvan. Resident, but 

 now nearly extinct, and very local. 



General colour rufous. Tail rufous and much forked ; legs short ; 

 iris yellow. Length 24 inches. 



167. BLACK KITE. Milvus migrans (Boddaert). One occurrence : 

 Northumberland, May 1866. 



Above dark brown, below rufous brown ; bill black. Head and 

 throat whitish, with black stripes. Tail brown, not much forked. 

 Length 22 inches. 



168. HONEY-BUZZARD. Pernis apivorus (Linnasus). Sylvan. Spring 

 to autumn. Has bred from New Forest to as far north as Aberdeen- 

 shire. 



Lores or spaces between eyes and bill covered with feathers ; legs 

 finely reticulated all round. (Pernis.) 



Adult male. Head ash-grey ; above brown ; below white, the chest 

 barred and spotted with brown. 



Adult female. Like male, but has not the grey head. 



Young. Head whitish ; upper parts brown, marked with white ; below 

 white, streaked with brown. 



A dark or melanistic form also occurs, in which the underparts are 

 uniform brown, the young birds being striated with blackish brown. 



Length 22-25 inches. 



169. GREENLAND FALCON. Falco candicans, J. F. Gmelin. Irregular 

 winter visitor. 



General colour white, more or less marked with blackish brown or 

 brown ; no bars on the flanks ; bill yelloivish iuhi1e at all ages ; cere, 

 legs, and feet yellow in adults, bluish in the young, as also in the 

 Iceland and Gyr Falcons. Length 20-23 inches, 



170. ICELAND FALCON. Falco islandus, J. F. Gmelin. Irregular 

 winter visitor : rarer than the preceding. 



Norway, 

 Sweden. 



1 1 IY Adult. General colour above brownish grey, each feather barred and 

 JO. Hipped with white ; flanks barred-, bill dark at all ages. Feathers of 

 crown, sides of head, and nape white, with dark lead-coloured and 

 rather broad shaft-marks. The light bars across the wing-coverts 

 become white in very old examples, but in F. gijrfalco are pale grey. 

 Length 22-24 inches. 



171. GYR-FALCON. Falco gyrfalco, Linnaeus. Recorded once or 

 twice in England, and has doubtless been often mistaken for the pre- 

 ceding. 



Adult. Feathers on crown of head entirely dark lead-colour, with no 

 white edgings except on the feathers just above the eye and ear-coverts. 



