Til 



FALCOX1D.K. 



FALCONIDJJ. 



irhite. Feet yellow; claws black. Length of the body 9! 

 inobe*. (Vigor*.) 



It u a native of Braxil. Mr. Vigor* *ay tlmt the following niaim- 

 script note wu appended to thin bird in Mr. Swainaon'i handwriting : 

 " The only individual of thin specie* I ever mot with was shot on 

 the table-land, about ira league* in the interior of Hahia, iu a 

 direction weataouth-wert from the bay of St. Salvador. It wu 

 perched on the trunk of a withered tree, apparently watching some 

 auial! birds. The Urai are bright niid the iride* hazel." 



3rd Sub Family, p,iltv*ia (Falcons). 



Beak abort, hooked from the ba*e. Wings long. Second quill 

 longest. 



Mr. Vigor* obnrres that thU, closely allied to 1/arpagut by the 

 double tooth on it* upper mandible, is another group for which he 

 propoae* the name of 



Imu (Vigor*). Beak abort ; upper mandible strongly Udentated, 

 lower (imply notched ; Urai moderate ; acrotarsia xcutellnted. Wings 

 hart ; aeoond quill longeat, slightly notched near the ni .. 



Bengal Falcon (Hirrar rtrrulticrni). 



" Whoever," write* Mr. Vigor*, " has Been that beautiful species, 

 the smallest of its race, falco cierulrtccnt of Liiin;uu, now rendered 

 familiar to us by the accurate and splendid illustrations of Dr. 

 Homfielil, will at once acknowledge its separation from every other 

 established genus of the family. It* upper mandible is strongly and 

 xharply bidentated as in Ifarpayut, but the under mandible is simply 

 notched as in the true Falcons. Its wings, shorter than the tail, differ 

 also from those of llarjMgiu in having the second quill-feather the 

 longest, thus again establishing the affinity of the genus to the Falcons. 

 The tarsi are moderate, and the acrotarsia acutellated a* in the latter 

 Kroiip of Hawks. From its thus possessing characters in common with 

 both sub-families it U difficult to say to which we should refer it ; 



length of the second quill feather, a peculiarity which distinguihcH 

 the true Falcons, and give* a striking character to their flight. Placed 

 however at the extremit of the divwion it reserve* it* affinit with 



but I prefer placing it in its present situation on account of the 

 second 

 ns, and 



at the extremity of the divwion, it preserve* it* affinity with 

 UIOM that went before." 



//. nrmfcttow is, according to Dr. Honfleld, the Allap or Allap- 

 allap of the Javanese ; Palco ctmUeteen* of Linnnu* ; f. Bmgalmnt 

 of Briason ; falmpamu Mian, ' Ger. Orn.' ; Little Black and Orange 



Head and (not of Bengal Falcon (lltrrat rrirfrru). 



Indian Hawk of Edwards ; and the Bengal Falcon of UUiam. Kntire 

 k_{"** Upper part, bluish-black and glossy. Throat, 

 xillaj, akU* of the nock, forehead, and a line continued from 



the environs of the bill over the eye and along the neck, white, witli 

 n ferruginous tail Lowor part of the breast, abdomen, vent, and 

 thighs, ferruginous. Hy|xxjhondria, thighs posteriorly, and a brood 

 |Wtch extending from the eye along the side of the head, black : the 

 Illume* which cover the thighs behind are terminated by long silky 

 filaments or radii which are struggling and pendulous, and by t)i< ir 

 laxity and irregularity afford a peculiar character to the bin I. 

 (Horsfii'ld.) The natives told Dr. Horsfield that this small but robust 

 bird wan uncommonly bold in the pursuit of little birds. Several 

 individual* were brought to him from tliu range of the southern hillx, 

 which are covered with forests, during his abode at Surakarta. lit- 

 obtained one in the eastern districts. In the other part* of tilt- 

 Inland of Java he did not observe it Bengal is also given as iu 

 locality. 



Mr. Vigors (' Zool. Proc.,' 1831) describe* another species, lerar 

 trythroycuyf, the size of /. nerulateni, from the neighbourhood of 

 Manilla. 



PaUo. Beak short ; upper mandible strongly toothed ; lower 

 notched ; acrotarsia reticulated ; second quill longest ; first and 

 second deeply notched internally near the n|x-x. 



This genus, which includes, as Mr. Vigors observe', the greater 

 portion of the present sub-family, comprise* the typical specie*. 

 " The upiwr mandible of this group," writes that zoologist, " is arnn-il 

 with a strong angular tooth ; the lower is notched near the extremity. 

 The nares are rounded. The wings ore for the most part as long as 

 the tail, the second quill-feathers being invariably the longest. The 

 first and second quill-feathers are also distinguished by au abrupt 

 emargi nation on the inner web near the extremity. In some specie*. 

 as in P. pertyrintu, the emargination of the second quill-feather ia not 

 so abrupt as in others. But iu all the species of the true Falcous 

 that have come under my examination, this emargination of the first 

 quill-feather at least is strongly apparent. The tarsi are moderate in 

 length and strength, and have the acrotarsia reticulated. Our 

 Kuropean species P. pereyrintu, Linn. ; P. tulbuiro, Linn. ; /'. 

 .Ktalon, Linn. ; P. !>), Bechstoiu are readily distinguished as 

 belonging to this typical genus. Some species belonging to the 

 group have the wings somewhat shorter than the tail, which in 

 conjunction with Irriur thus evince a gradual series of affinity between 

 the short and long-winged tribes. Among these we may distinguish 

 P. linituneulut, Linn. ; P. rupicoliu, Daud. ; with some corresponding 

 species." 



P. pereyriniu, the Peregrine Falcon, U Le Faucou Pelerin of tho 

 French ; Sparviere Pcllegrino and Falco Kealo of the Italians ; 

 Wander Falka of the Germans ; Apeatoi-Kccoo (Little Eagle) of the 

 Cree Indians ; Hebog Trauior and Comrnin of tho Welsh. 



Pcrcgiine Kulcon (F,ilco frrrgriMut). 



Adult. -Length from 15 to 18 in< -In ". dfptnding on the sex and 

 age of th bird. Beak blue, approaching to black at the point ; cero 

 and eyelids yellow, iride* dark hazel-brown ; top nf tin- lio.-ui, bock of 

 the neck, and a (|K>t below the eye, nearly block ; back and upper 

 surface bluish-slate or ash colour, becoming lighter at every succeed- 

 ing moult, the males usually the most so ; feathers of back, wing- 



