FALCO 549 



Dutch ; Larkefalk, Dan ; Larkfalk, Swed. ; Leivohaukka, Finn. ; 

 Tscheglok, Sokol-Bielogorlik, Russ. ; Morassani, Oude ; Chigo- 

 haydbusa i Jap. 



$ ad. (Finland). Upper parts dark slate-grey, clearer on the rump 

 and upper tail-coverts, darker and often tinged with brown on the head ; 

 lores, supercilium, and an ill-defined nuchal collar, buffy white, the last 

 inclining to ferruginous ; quills black, on the inner web irregularly barred 

 with rufous ; tail slate-grey, all but the two middle feathers barred on the 

 inner web and tipped with ferruginous ; cheek and moustache black, the 

 chin and sides of the neck warm creamy white ; rest of the under parts 

 creamy white, the breast and flanks striped with black ; under wing- 

 coverts and axillaries buffy white, the former striped, the latter barred 

 with blackish brown ; thighs and under tail-coverts rich rust-red ; bill 

 light blue-black, yellowish at the base ; cere and legs yellow ; iris brown. 

 Culmen 0'7, wing lO'O, tail G'O, tarsus I'l 'inch. Female similar but 

 larger. The young bird has the upper parts blackish brown, with fulvous 

 margins, the under parts fulvous white, the breast and flanks blotched and 

 striped with blackish brown, the lower abdomen becoming rufescent 

 fulvous, also streaked and mottled. 



Hob. A summer visitor to the British Islands and Northern 

 Europe up to about 65 N. ; the Canaries ; Africa south to 

 the Cape Colony ; Asia Minor and Asia east to China, Corea, 

 and Japan, north to Kamchatka, south to the Himalayas and 

 the plains of India. In South Africa it is replaced by 

 F. cuvieri, Smith, and in India and the Malay Archipelago by 

 F. severus, Horsf. 



Frequents woodlands and groves and is to some extent 

 crepuscular in its habits. Its food consists largely of insects 

 of various kinds, but it is swift on the wing and bold, and 

 frequently preys on small birds. It is a late breeder and generally 

 makes use of the deserted nest of a crow or some other large 

 bird, and in June deposits 3 to 5 eggs, which on a yellowish 

 white ground are closely covered with yellowish red spots and 

 blotches, which but seldom become rufous like the eggs of the 

 Kestrel. In size they average 1'62 by 1*31. 



770. ELEONORA'S FALCON. 

 FALCO ELEONORJE. 



Falco eleonorce, Gene, Rev. Zool. 1839, p. 105 ; (Gurney), Ibis, 1869, 

 p. 445, pi. xvi. ; Dresser, vi. p. 103, pi. 383 ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Br. 

 Mus. i. p. 404 ; F. arcadicus, Linderm. Isis, 1843, p. 329, Taf. 1 ; 

 F. dichrous, Erhard, Naumannia, 1858, p. 25. 



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