420 TALCONID^. 



Distribution. Throughout India in suitable (open or cultivated} 

 country, from the lower Himalayas to Southern Madras, and from 

 iSind to Cachar. A specimen was obtained by Hume in Manipur, 

 but this Falcon has not been observed in Assam nor in Burma. 

 it is found in Baluchistan about Khelat and Quetta, but has not 

 been met with farther west. It is rare to the southward, and does 

 not occur in Ceylon. It is seldom met with in forest regions such 

 as the Malabar coast and South-western Bengal, and is particularly 

 common in the upper Gangetic plain, and far from rare in parts of 

 the Punjab and Kajputana. 



Habits, fyc. Jerdon says " Whilst the Bhyri prefers the sea- 

 coast and the neighbourhood of lakes, rivers, and wet cultivation, 

 and the Slidhin delights in hilly and wooded regions, the Laggar 

 on the contrary frequents open dry plains and vicinity of cultiva- 

 tion." " In a wild state it preys on a great variety of small birds, 

 often snatching up a chicken, even in the midst of a cantonment." 

 .formerly it was trained to hunt crows, the smaller herons, 

 partridges, and florican, but very few Falcons are now trained in 

 India, and this species is now rarely, if ever, captured for the 

 purpose. The nest of the Laggar is sometimes on a tree, very 

 often a pipal (Ficus religiosa), sometimes on a cliff or on a build- 

 ing, and in many cases the Falcon takes possession of an old nest 

 of a kite, eagle, or vulture, not even relining it. The breeding- 

 season is in January, February, and March. The usual number 

 of eggs is four; they are reddish or brownish, speckled and 

 spotted all over with a darker and richer shade of the same, and 

 measure about 2-01 by 1*57. 



1258. Falco cherrug. The Saker or Cherrug Falcon. 



Falco sacer, apud Gm. Syst. Nat. i, p. 273 (1788) ; Jerdon, B. I. \, 

 p. 29 ; iii, p. 869 ; id. Ibis, 1871, p. 238 ; Hume, Rough Notes, 

 p. 62; Delme Radcl. Ibis, 1871, p. 365; Hume, 8. F. i', p. 152 ; 

 id. Cat. no. 10 ; Anderson, P. Z. S. 1876, p. 778 ; Scully, Ibis, 1881, 

 p. 416 ; Gurney, Ibis, 1882, p. 444 ; Barnes, Birds Bom. p. 12 ; nee 

 Forster, Phil. Trans. Ixii, p. 383 (1772). 



Falco cherrug, J. E. Gray in Rardw. III. Ind. Zool. ii, pi. 25 (1833-34). 



Hierofalco saker, Sharpe, Cat. B. M. i, p. 417 ; id. Yark. Miss., 

 Aves, p. 149, pis. xvi-xix ; Murray, Vert. Zool. Sind, p. 66. 



Chary $ , Chargela J , H. 



Coloration. Adult. Crown and nape white (the crown sometimes 

 pale rufous), with blackish shaft-stripes, which are broader on the 

 nape ; lores and sides of head white, with scattered dark streaks ; 

 no cheek-stripe from the eye, but sometimes a broken moustachial 

 stripe from the gape ; ear-coverts brown, streaked darker ; upper 

 parts brown throughout, the feathers with rufous or tawny 

 margins, and frequently a few rufous spots forming imperfect bars 

 on the scapulars and larger wing-coverts ; quills brown, paler 

 beneath ; primaries broadly barred with white on the inner webs, 

 the bars widening and generally coalescing towards the inner 

 border ; secondaries with smaller white markings, or with spots, or 



