FALCONS. 



185 



only a local race. The female attains a length of 13, and the male of Hi inches. 

 Tlie turumti is spread all over India, generally haunting open country in the 

 neighbourhood of cultivation. Jerdon writes that " it frequents gardens, groves 

 of trees, and even single trees in the open countr}-, wheiice it sallies forth, sometimes 

 circling aloft, but more generally, especially in the heat of the day, glidino- with 

 inconceivable rapidity along some hedgerow, dam of a tank, or across fields, and 



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TURUMTI FALCON (§ Uat. size). 



pouncing suddenly on some lark, sparrow, or \vagtail. It ver}' often liunts in 

 pairs, and I have now and then seen it hover like a kestrel for a few seconds." 

 In addition to the smaller birds, the turumti will attack starlings, quails, and doves, 

 while it will sometimes prey on bats. It nests from February to May, — apparently 

 always in trees, — laying usually four eggs, of which the colour varies from yellowish 

 brown, with a few reddish specks, to nearly uniform brownish red. Mr. R. 

 Thompson, in a letter to Mr. Hume, observes tliat " I have trained this species 

 to be thrown from the hand at (|uails and partridges. The biril )'('adily learns the 



