i8o 



DIURNAL BIRDS OF PREY. 



is greenish horn-colour. In the young bird the feet are bluish green. When in its 

 full adult dress, which is not assumed till late, and but seldom seen, the saker 

 becomes completely barred on the whole of the upper surface with rufous, and is 

 then compared by Dr. Sharpe to a gigantic kestrel ; the under-parts being creamy 

 white, with a few blackish spots on the abdomen passing into bars on the flanks. 



The range of the saker extends from South-Eastern Europe and North- 

 Eastem Africa through Central Asia to the north of China. Although not 



. • SAKER FALCON {\ nat. size). 



definitely known to breed in the plains of India it extends from Afghanistan and 

 Gilgit to Peshawur, and thence straggles as far south as Dehli and Amballa. 

 F. inilvij^es, of Central Asia, is now regarded as a distinct species. This noble 

 falcon is common in the Danubian principalities, and generally frequents 

 open country, although nesting in trees — usually in the neighbourhood of water. 

 The nest is not large, and the eggs, which are generally four in number, 

 are more pointed than those of most Accipitrines. In the Harriana Desert of India 

 these falcons feed largely on a spiny lizard of the genus Uromastix. In Palestine 



