FALCO 547 



ad. (Egypt). Forehead dull white ; crown and nape pale creamy 

 rufous, finely striated with blackish, the lower nape blotched with brown ; 

 forepart of back and wing-coverts dull slaty brown, barred and tipped with 

 buffy ash-grey, becoming slaty ash, barred with ash-blue on the lower 

 back and upper tail-coverts ; quills ashy black, barred with white on the 

 inner web ; tail ashy brown, closely banded with ashy grey, and tipped 

 with buffy white ; space round the eye and an irregular stripe to the nape 

 deep brown ; moustache small and narrow ; chin and upper throat white ; 

 rest of under parts butfy white, with drop-shaped blackish brown spots and 

 stripes ; bill pale horn at base, dark horn at tip ; cere and legs yellow ; 

 iris brown. Culmen 1-2, wing 13'15, tail 7'3, tarsus 2*0 inch. Female 

 similar but larger. The young bird has the crown paler, striped with 

 blackish brown, the upper parts dull brown, with paler margins, the tail 

 greyish brown, the outer feathers irregularly barred, and tipped with white > 

 the under parts white, the breast and abdomen^ broadly striped with dark 

 brown ; legs dull plumbeous, tinged with yellow. 



Hob. Southern Europe, rarely straying further north ; North 

 Africa ; Asia Minor (rare) ; Palestine. 



Does not differ appreciably from its allies in general habits ; 

 it frequents plains, rocky localities, as also groves, lagoons, and 

 marshes when water-fowl are found in any numbers. With the 

 Arabs it is held in high esteem for falconry purposes, though 

 European falconers consider it as inferior to the Peregrine. As 

 a rule it nests in the rocks, and has, in Egypt, been found 

 breeding on the pyramids, and in Spain in trees, having taken 

 possession of a deserted nest of some other large bird. When 

 placed on a rock its nest is scanty, being merely a little material 

 collected together. Its 4 eggs, which are usually deposited in 

 April, closely resemble those of the Saker, but are as a rule 

 darker ; in size they average 213 by T59. Examples from 

 N.W. Africa (F. erlangeri) are as a rule paler, and less marked 

 with blackish, especially on the crown. 



768. MERLIN. 

 FALCO ^BSALON. 



Falco cesalon, Tunstall, Orn. Brit. p. i. (1771) ; Naum. i. p. 303, Taf. 27 ; 

 Hewitson, i. p. 30, pi. x. fig. 1 ; Gould, B. of E. i. pi. 24 ; id. B. of 

 Gt. Brit. i. pi. 19 ; Newton, i. p. 74 ; Dresser, vi. p. 83, pis. 380, 

 381 ; (Tacz.), F. 0. Sib. 0. p. 87 ; Saunders, p. 351 ; Lilford, i. 

 p. 50, pis. 24, 25 ; F. regulus, Pall. Eeise, ii . Anhang, p. 707 

 (1773) ; David and Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 34 ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Br. 

 Mus. i. p. 406 ; (Blanf.), F. Brit. Ind. Birds, iii. p. 426 ; F. litho- 

 falco ; Gmel. Syst. Nat. i. p. 278 (1788). 



Faucon ]$m6rillon, French ; Ssmerefon, Span, ; Smeriglw, 

 Ital. ; Zwergfalke, Germ. ; Smelleken, Dutch ; Steenfalk, Dvcergfalk, 



o o 



