1944 THE DIURNAL BIRDS OF PREY 



trees usually in the neighborhood of water. The nest is not large, and the eggs,, 

 which are generally four in number, are more pointed than those of most Accipi- 

 trines. In the Harriana desert of India these falcons feed largely on a spiny lizard 

 of the genus Uromastix. In Palestine the saker is trained for the chase of gazelles, 

 while in India, where it is termed the cherug, it is flown not only at cranes, bus- 

 tards, hares, etc., but likewise at kites. The chase of the latter is described as 

 being exciting in the extreme, the two birds doing all they know to obtain the 

 higher position, and often flying far from the hawking party. On one such occa- 

 sion, Mr. R. Thompson, writing to Mr. Hume, says that " after going a consider- 

 able distance from his quarry, and thereby acquiring what he wanted superior 

 height the saker resumed the chase, returning downward like a thunderbolt on 

 the kite. Blow after blow was struck, and the helpless kite, with his merciless 

 enemy, descended, clutched fast together, their wings expanded, in wheeling circles 

 to the earth, where the kite, already half dead, was soon dispatched." Curiously 

 enough, kites seem to recognize the saker as their enemy, as, immediately one was 

 unhooded, all the kites in the vicinity flew off, although they took not the least 

 notice of other falcons. 



The falcon known as the lanner (F. feldeggii), although a much 

 Lanner and smaller bird, has been frequently confounded with the preceding spe- 



T o ornra t" 



P . cies, but, together with the laggar, it belongs to a group agreeing with 



the under-mentioned peregrine in the relative length of the toes and 

 wings, although resembling the saker in the absence of the distinct dark barring 

 on the thighs in the ordinary dress. The lanner is chiefly characteristic of the 

 countries bordering the Mediterranean, and attains a length of seventeen inches 

 in the male. It has the back barred, the forehead blackish, and the hinder part 

 of the head and nape rufous, with a narrow line of black on the forehead, and 

 a thin black cheek stripe; the general color of the upper parts being ashy brown, 

 and the tail feathers distinctly barred with pale rufous. The laggar (F. jugger) , 

 which is confined to Peninsular India, is a still smaller species, measuring only 

 fifteen and one-half inches in the male, and having the thighs with scarcely any 

 or no dark markings, and the middle tail feathers not barred; the crown of the head 

 being dull rufous, with lines of ashy black on the back. Other well-known species 

 of this group are the Barbary falcon (F. barbarus} , ranging from West and North- 

 east Africa to Northwestern India and the Himalayas, and the red-capped falcon (F. 

 babylonicus} , with a nearly similar range, but extending into Turkestan, and un- 

 known in West Africa. The former is next in size to the saker, the female 

 reaching a length of twenty-two and one-half inches, and may be distinguished from 

 the lanner by the rufous forehead and nape, and the bluish gray of the hinder part 

 of the crown. The latter is much smaller, and has the under parts uniform sandy 

 rufous, instead of with wavy dark bars. 



In common with the group just noticed, the peregrine falcon (F. 



P j peregrinus) so named from the migratory habits of the young birds 



differs from the gerfalcons and saker by its longer toes, especially 



the fourth, which (exclusive of the claw) exceeds the second in length, and also by 



the elongation of the wings, in which the interval between the primary and second- 



