10 FALCONIN.E. 



upper tail-coverts much lighter ; wings blackish-brown, more or 

 less spotted or barred with white on the inner web ; tail grey, 

 with some dark bands, and a pale tip ; beneath chin and throat 

 pure white ; breast, white, with a few narrow longitudinal streaks, 

 almost disappearing in old individuals ; abdomen with some small 

 heart-shaped spots ; flanks and thigh-coverts with dark transverse 

 bars ; inner wing-coverts white, with numerous well-marked 

 dark cross bars. 



Young bird: above dark brown, most of the feathers edged 

 with paler and somewhat rufous brown ; head more edged with 

 whitish, especially the hind head ; cheek-stripe brown ; wings 

 darker brown than the back, with pale rufous spots or bars on the 

 inner webs ; the tail dusky-cinereous, with numerous interrupted 

 pale rufous or rufous- white bars ; beneath white or creamy, with 

 brown oval spots, longitudinal and narrow on the throat and breast, 

 wider and ovate on the abdomen. 



The following extract from Mr. Hume's " Rough Notes" will 

 assist in discriminating the various species of Falcons : 



" First, the Sacer so far exceeds all the others in size that 

 this alone would be sufficient to identify it. The wings average 

 from 15 to 16 inches, against 14 in F. juggur and F. peregrinus, 

 and 13 in perigrinator and babylonicus.. Then, while the cen- 

 tral tail-feathers of peregrinus, perigrinator, and babylonicus 

 are all barred, (in different stages according to age) and those of 

 juggur are unbarred, those of Sacer, in most of the specimens I 

 have seen, are marked with roundish spots (more or less broad 

 ovals on the laterals). Then, again, the Sacer never has much, and 

 commonly shows scarcely any sign of a cheek-stripe, while in all 

 the others it is well marked Further, the Peregrine is distin- 

 guished at all times from the Juggur, by its huge, broad cheek- 

 patch, which in the Laggar is at most about a quarter of an inch 

 broad, and by the entire absence of barring on the centre tail- 

 feathers in F. juggur, which absence equally distinguishes this 

 later from both perigrinator and babylonicus. 



From babylonicus, both perigrinator and peregrinus differ in 

 the cheek-stripe, which is narrow in the former, as in the juggur, 

 but very broad and strongly marked in the two latter ; but baby- 

 lonicus, as far as my experience goes, is not of the juggur type 

 of brown plumage, the old birds becoming slaty or greenish-blue 

 as do both peregrinus and perigrinator, whilst the oldest jug- 

 gur is never more than slaty-brown. 



Then, as to perigrinator and peregrinus, the comparatively 

 rich rufous coloring at all ages of the -under parts, and the very 

 dark head and nape of the former, at once separate the two 

 species. 



The Peregrine, though it occurs throughout the district, is no- 

 where common. It is also called the Duck-hawk, from its habit 

 of preying on the duck tribe; so long as they (the ducks) 

 remain on the water, they are safe, and the ducks seem instinct- 



