108 FALCONID,E. 



" Length 22 inches, breadth 4 feet 1 inch. The bill to the 

 corner of the mouth 1 inch, long, much hooked, sharp and 

 without a process : the tip black, apex, cere and orbits of the 

 eye, pale blue. Irides a deep fiery red. Cere and base of the 

 bill closely fringed with long black bristles. Head, neck and 

 all the under parts of a pure and brilliant white ; the shafts 

 of the feathers on the crown of the head and ears delicately 

 pencilled with black. Back, scapulars, wings and tail of a 

 fine glossy black, varying according to the light it is placed 

 in to green, purple and crimson. The lesser wing-coverts 

 finely margined and tipped with white ; the under wing- 

 coverts of a pure white, tail long and forked and consisting 

 of ten feathers, the longest of which are 12 inches, the 

 shortest, or bottom of the fork, 6 inches. The wings, 

 when closed, reach exactly to the end of the tail, and cross 

 their long points over the rump. Legs very short and 

 strong, much scaled, and, with the feet, of a dirty bluish- 

 white ; claws white. The feathers of the thighs so long as 

 nearly to conceal the legs. Suppose it to be the Swallow- 

 tailed Falcon." 



It would be impossible to add to the completeness of the 

 foregoing description : nothing could more conclusively show 

 that the supposition with which it closes was correct. It 

 only remains to state that the figure here given was taken 

 from a specimen formerly in the Museum of the Zoological 

 Society. 



