82 JOTTINGS ABOUT BIRDS. 



ences in size and colouration. In South Africa the 

 representative race is Falco minor ; in North-west 

 India, F. atriceps ; in South India, F. peregrinator ; 

 in Australia, F. melanogenys ; in Patagonia and 

 Chili, F. cassini ; and in North-west America the 

 very distinct dark race, F. peali. These may be 

 mentioned as the most distinct forms of the 

 Peregrine, but several others have been recognized 

 by naturalists. In addition to these facts it is also 

 worthy of remark, that the Peregrine appears to 

 interbreed with F. barbarus, in the basin of the 

 Mediterranean, and the offspring have been de- 

 scribed as F. punicus, although the late Mr. Gurney, 

 the highest authority on the Raptores, assured me 

 that the latter form was really a sub-species of 

 F. minor. The Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus}, the 

 Buzzard (Buteo vulgaris), and the Hen Harrier 

 (Circus cyaneus), with their respective races, present 

 very similar facts. 



We might also, did space permit, give numerous 

 instances from the Passeres, from the Picarian birds, 

 from the Pigeons, the Game Birds, the Waders, the 

 Gulls, and the Ducks, in all of which great natural 

 groups we have wide-ranging species, which have 

 become segregated into various sub-species or 

 representative races. The various slight differences 



