Birds. 307 



with a spot of brown at tip ; inter scapulars and back dirty 

 brown ; upper tail coverts brown, with their tips pale tawny ; 

 throat, sides of neck, and anterior part of breast, blackish 

 brown ; flanks, belly, thighs, and vent, reddish brown, inclined 

 to dirty ferruginous ; shoulders variegated brown and pale 

 tawny ; inside of wings dark tawny, spotted with brown. Pri- 

 mary and secondary wing coverts brown, with tawny tips ; 

 primary quill feathers dark brown, the inner vanes towards 

 quills light tawny, variegated by longitudinal waved dusky 

 lines ; secondaries similarly coloured. Tail nearly even, dark 

 brown, with the three outermost feathers of each side distinctly 

 marked by transverse interrupted tawny bands ; centre ones 

 with indistinct light coloured bands on inner vanes ; tips of all 

 the feathers tawny. Legs and toes greenish yellow; claws 

 black. Length about eighteen inches. 



Young. Plumage an uniform dark brown, very slightly 

 variegated by some streaks of bright tawny about the chin, 

 front, and anterior edges of shoulders. The brown of the up- 

 per parts is dark and clear ; that of the lower reddish brown or 

 ferruginous. Tail feathers nearly uniform brown, with tawny 

 tips, and some similarly coloured spots towards quills. Bill 

 blackish blue, the lower mandible yellow at base. Legs and 

 toes dirty yellow. 



Inhabits South Africa. 



SUB-FAM. FALCONINA. 



Bill curved from the base, with one or more strong teeth up- 

 on the edge of the upper mandible ; wings as long or longer 

 than the tail, first feather long, second longest. 



Genus FALCO. Bechst. 



Bill strong, conical, curved from the base with a strong tooth 

 on edge of upper mandible, the lower notched near point ; nostrils 

 round, situated near anterior edge of cere ; tarsi short, more or 

 less robust, their upper third feathered, the rest reticulated. 

 Tail moderately long, slightly graduated, broad, and rounded ; 

 hinder toe strong ; claws falciform ; cere nearly naked. 



Falco peregrinus, Lin. Head and upper part of neck bluish 

 black, rest of upper parts ashy blue, the feathers crossed by 

 irregular blackish bands ; quill feathers blackish, with a hoary- 

 tint on the outer vanes, inner vanes with transverse tawny or 

 white stripes ; edges of shoulders white ; tail ashy with nu- 

 merous transverse black bands, broadest towards the tips which 

 are dull white. Beneath each eye a broad black streak ; 



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