

228 KELIQULE AQUITANIOE. 



ossiferous caves. This species, however, is not rare in Prance; thus it is often 

 seen on the coasts of the Channel, where it is in passage in autumn. It is more 

 common in all parts of Russia and in Northern Asia. 



4. THE COMMON BUZZARD. Falco vulgaris, Linne ; Buteo vulgaris, Bechst. Le 



Bute vulgaire. 



The deposit at Aurignac likewise furnished to M. E. Lartet a tibia of a Bird of 

 prey which I have determined as having belonged to a Buzzard of large size. At 

 that time I said : " Although in size this lower extremity of the tibia exceeds 

 the ordinary dimensions in most of the individuals of this species which I have 

 had the opportunity of examining, the osteological characters are identical, so 

 that it appears to me impossible to attribute this fossil to any other specific type 

 than that at present living in Europe"*. 



I have since been able to compare this bone with those of a very great number 

 of individuals of the same species, and have found in adult females of the common 

 Buzzard proportions nearly identical with those of the Aurignac fossil. 



A tibia of a Buzzard found at Bruniquel presents nothing peculiar in its 

 dimensions; and some ungual phalanges seem also to belong to this species. 

 I have likewise recognized its presence in the Cave at Gourdan. Marcel de 

 Serres mentioned this bird as having been found in the Caves in the Department 

 of the Aude ; but that author's determinations are so uncertain that it is impos- 

 sible to accept them uncontrolled. 



5. THE COMMON FALCON. Falco communis, Gmelin. Le Faucon ordinaire. 



The Family of the Falcons is represented in the Caves of Aquitania by three 

 species ; but up to the present moment the large Falcons of the north have not 

 been seen there. Thus no trace has been found of the presence in France, at 

 that period, of the White Gerfalcon, of the Iceland Gerfalcon, or of that of 

 Norway. The common Falcon has not left numerous remains ; and hitherto I 

 have only seen one humerus of this bird, from the Cave at Lacombe-Tayac. 



6. THE HOBBY. Falco subbuteo, Linne. Le Faucon hobereau. 



M. Piette found, in the diggings he made in the Cave of Gourdan, a humerus 

 of a Falcon smaller than that of the common Falcon, but larger than that of the 

 Kestrel (F. tinnunculus). When studying for the first time this bone, I could not 

 refer it to any species living since that epoch ; but I have lately compared it with 

 its analogue in F. subbuteo, and find that it presents all the characters peculiar to 



* Rccherches pour servir a 1'histoire des Oiseaux fossilcs, tome ii. p. 470, pi. 187. figs. 8-10. 



