1920.] Birds of the Canary Islands. 353 



Astur gentilis. Goshawk. 



]Momp6 (Catiilogo de las Aves de Tenerife, 1876, p. 2-i3) 

 is the only authority for this bird's inclusion. 



Cabrera mentions Astur palumharius (Linn.) (Catalogo, 

 1893, p. 33) on the authority of Mompo. 



Hartert (Nov. Zool. 1901, p. 307) points out tl e impossi- 

 bility of the above record. 



Milvus migrans. Black Kite. 



Cabrera is tlie first autlior to mention this species, Milvus 

 niger Briss. (Catalogo, 1893, p. 31), remarking that it is au 

 irregular visitor. He had no specimens, and confusion with 

 a dark example of Milvus m. milvus has probably taken 

 place. 



Polatzek wrote (Orii. Jahrb. 1909, p. 119) : " Occasionally 

 passing through ; no specimens." He does not say that he 

 was quoting Cabrera, but it ceitninly looks as if he was. 



Falco aBsalon. Merlin. 



Ijcdru does not include this species in his list (Voyage 

 aux lies de Tenerife, etc., 1810), as is erroneously stated 

 by Cabrera [^supra^ and Polatzek (Orn. Jahrb. 190.2, p. 118); 

 neither does Viera include the Merlin in his Dictionary 

 (Diccionario de Historia Natural, 1866), s;) far as I can 

 make out. 



Cabrera wrote (Catiilogo, 1893, p. 32) that it was an 

 extremely rare visitor, arriving accidentally from April 

 trt May. He noted that it was cited by \'iera as well as 

 Ledru ! 



Cabrera had no specimen, and does not say whether his 

 observations are his own. Those cited by him seem to be 

 non-existent, as already pointed out by Hartert (Nov. Zool. 

 1901. p. 307). 



Falco naiiinanni. Lesser Kestrel. 



First mentioned as a possible straggler to the Canaries by 

 Bolle [Falco cenchris, J. f. O. 1857, p. 2G7]. 



Next it was (I am almost sure eri-oneously) recorded by 

 myself from Tenerife, when I mistook for this species a 



