ACCIPITRES. 2\o 



is of a brown transversely striped with a blackish ash colour ; the 

 tail is brown above, with pairs of reddish spots, and beneath with 

 pale bands which diminish in width with age ; the throat is always 

 white; the feet and the cera of the bill are sometimes blue and 

 sometimes yellow. These variations may be followed, Enl. 470, 

 the young; 421, the old female; 450, the old male; * Nauman, pi. 

 24 and 25, and Wils. Am. IX. pi. Ixxvi. 



Those called Faucons pelerins, Enl. 469, and Wils. Amcr. IX. 

 pi. 7 a — F. stellaris, F, peregrinus, Gm., appear to be young ones 

 rather blacker than the rest. 



It is this celebrated species which has given its name to that kind 

 of hunting in which birds of prey are used. It inhabits the whole 

 north of the earth, and builds in the most elevated and inaccessible 

 clilTs. Such is the velocity of its flight, that there is scarcely a spot 

 on the globe it does not visit. The Falcon stoops vertically on its 

 prey, as though it fell from the clouds, and consequently can only 

 capture birds while on the wing, otherwise it would dash itself against 

 the ground. The male is used for taking Pies and other small 

 birds; the female against Pheasants, and even Hares. 



F. lanarius, L. ; F. sacer, Naum. pi. 23. (The Lanner). A 

 somewhat larger species, which appears to come from the East rather 

 than the North. Its plumage is nearly the same as that of the young 

 falcon, except that its moustache is narrower, and less marked, and 

 that its throat is mottled; it approaches the Gerfalcon in the tail, 

 which is longer than the wings : it is principally taken in Hungary. 

 Europe produces also six smaller species, three of which have the form 

 and qualities of the true falcon on a reduced scale. 



F. subbuteo, L. ; Enl. 432 ; Naum. 26. (The Hobby). Brown 

 above ; whitish, spotted longitudinally with brown beneath ; thighs 

 and lower part of the abdomen red; a brown streak on the cheek. 



F. cesalon, L. ; Enl. 468 ; Naum. 27. (The Merlin). Brown 

 above ; whitish beneath ; longitudinally spotted with brown, even on 

 the thighs; the smallest of the European birds of prey. The Ro- 

 chier, Cuv. ; F. lithofalco, L. ; Enl. 447 ; ash-coloured above ; red- 

 dish white, spotted longitudinally with pale brown underneath, is 

 merely an old male of the same species. Builds among rocks. 

 The toes of the three remaining species are shorter, and their tubercles 

 less salient. Their flight is not so rapid, and they pursue Mice, Insects, 

 and seize Birds upon the perch. The most common is 



F. tinnunculus, L. ; Enl. 401 and 471; Naum. 30. (The Kes- 

 trel). Red; spotted with black above ; white longitudinally, spotted 

 with pale brown beneath ; the head and tail of the male ash-coloured. 

 The name is derived from its shrill cry : builds in old towers and 

 ruins. 



F. cenchris, Frisch and Naum. : F. tinnunculoides, Schintz and 

 Temra.; Naum. 29; Frisch. 89. (The Little Kestrel). The male 



* Frisch only gives a young falcon, pi. Ixxxiii. Edw. ; the old female, pi. iii.: the 

 young, pi. iv. 



