FALCO RUPICOLOIDES. 



throat, and the thighs pale buff orange, and almost destitute of variegations. 

 Legs and toes yellow with a faint greenish tint. Upper mandible livid 

 green towards base, towards tip umber-brown ; lower mandible yellow, 

 towards base, livid-green towards tip, cere-yellow. Eyes brown. Claws a 

 dark horn colour. 



Form, &c. — Figure robust; head rather small, culmen arched from the 

 base ; the point of tlie npper mandible acute ; tooth triangular, and well 

 developed ; the cutting edge of upper mandible posterior to tooth slightly 

 waved ; cere small ; nostrils circular and open. Wings long, pointed, and 

 when folded reach very nearly to the tip of the tail ; the second quill feather 

 the longest, the third rather shorter, the first and fourth equal and about an 

 inch shorter than the second. Tertiary and secondary quill-feathers nearly 

 of equal length, and much shorter than the primaries. Tail slightly rounded. 

 Tarsi and toes moderately strong, the former coated anteriorly with rather 

 large umbricate scales, posteriorly with small ones ; the middle toe consi- 

 derably longer than the lateral toes ; claws long, slender, much curved, and 

 pointed. 



Inches. Lines. 

 Lengtli from tlie tip of the bill to the 



base of the tail 10 



of the tail 7 



of the bill to the angle of the 



mouth 11 



of the wings wheu folded 11 6 



DIMENSIONS. 



Inches. Lines. 

 Length of the tarsus 1 10 



of tlie outer toe 9^ 



of the middle toe 1 2 



of the inner toe 10 



of the hinder toe 6^ 



3Iale. — The colours the same as those of the female, only clearer and 

 deeper. 



Specimens of this bird have occasionally been procured in the neighbourhood of Cape Town, 

 but they are only to be obtained in abundance on the west coast of the Colony, towards the 

 mouth of the Orange River, and in the interior of the countiy to the northward of that stream. 

 In the districts in which it is common it seems to take the place of Falco Rupicolus, so common 

 in the Colony, at least according to my observations ; the last named is rarely observed 

 where Falco Ritpicoloides is common. Both species are in the habit of resting upon trees, but 

 there is a marked difference in the practice of the two ; Falco Rupicolus seems to prefer rocks 

 to trees as a resting-place, while Falco Rupicoloides never perches on rocks. Both species 

 build their nest on trees, and both subsist on the same kind of food. 



