FALCO 543 



762. SAKER. 

 FALCO CHERRUG. 



Fulco cJierrug, J. E. Gray in Harchv. 111. Ind. Zool. ii. pi. 25 (1833-34) ; 

 Blanf. F. Brit. Ind. Birds, iii. p. 420 ; F. sacer, Gmel. Syst. Nat. i. 

 p. 273 (1788 nee. Forst.) ; Gould, B. of Asia, i. pi. 5 ; Dresser, vi. 

 p. 59, pi. 376 ; (Sharpe), Cat. B. Br. Mus. i. p. 417 ; F. lanarius, 

 Pall. Zoogr. Eoss. As. i. p. 330 (1811 nee. Gmel.) ; Naum. i. p. 279, 

 Taf. 23 ; Gould, B. of E. i. pi. 20 ; F. cyanopus, Thienem. Rhea, i. 

 p. 62, Taf. 1, 2 (1846). 



Faucon sacre, French; II sacro, Ital. ; Wiirgfalke, German; 

 Slagfalk, Swed. ; Balcibann, Russ. ; Dughdn, Turk. ; Uetdlgi, 

 Tartar ; Bas, Chark, Pers. ; Saqer-el-hor, Arab. ; Charg $ , 

 Chargela $ , Hindu. 



$ ad. (S. Russia). Crown and nape white tinged with rufous brown, 

 and striped with blackish brown ; upper parts generally dark earth-brown 

 with pale fulvous margins ; quills dark brown barred with white on the 

 inner web ; tail brown marked with buffy white oval spots, the middle 

 feathers sometimes uniform brown ; sides of head, chin, throat, and breast 

 white, the first sparingly striped, the others with a few spots of blackish 

 brown, moustachial stripe ill defined ; rest of under parts white, more or 

 less striped with elongated spots of blackish brown, sometimes almost un- 

 marked ; bill bluish horn, paler at the base ; cere and legs yellow ; iris dark 

 brown. Culmen 1*0, wing 14'0, tail 8'0, tarsus 2*35 inch. Female similar 

 but larger. The young bird has the head and nape buffy white closely 

 streaked with blackish brown ; upper parts darker than the adult ; upper 

 tail-coverts with broad dull rufous and buffy white margins ; moustachial 

 stripe well defined ; chin white ; under parts buffy white closely and 

 broadly striped with blackish brown ; cere and legs pale blue-grey ; iris 

 dark brown. 



Hob. Eastern and south-eastern Europe, rarely straying west ; 

 not visiting Great Britain ; has once occurred in Scandinavia ; 

 North-east Africa; Asia minor and Palestine (rare); Central 

 Asia and Persia to N.W. India and China. 



Is a frequenter of the plains and desert, and preys on 

 lizards, small mammals, and birds. For falconry purposes it is 

 highly esteemed and used to hawk gazelles, hares, bustards, &c. 

 It nests in trees, rarely in rocks, and builds a tolerably well 

 constructed, but not a large, nest of sticks, lined with finer 

 twigs, grass, wool, &c., and in April lays 2 to 4 eggs, some- 

 what elongated oval in shape, richly marked and blotched with 

 dull or dark red on a white or yellowish white ground, in size 

 averaging 210 by T62. 



