V24 



COMMON FALCON. 



4* Falco communis. F. fuscus rufo undulalus, cauda subnigrd 

 fasciatu, pectore abdomineque albidis fusco maculatis. 



Brown Falcon, with rufous undulations, the tail marked by- 

 dusky bars 3 the breast and belly whitish, with dusky spots. 



Falco communis. F. rostro ccerulescente, cera, iridibus pedi- 

 busque luteis, corpore fusco , pennarum margine rufo, rectricibus 

 fasciis saturatioribus. Lath. ind. orn. 



Falco communis. Lin. Syst. Nat. Gmel. 



Common Falcon. Lath.syn. 



Le Faucon. Buff. ois. Pi. Enl. 470. 421. 469. 



The standard or representative of the Common: 

 Falcon is described as of the size of a middling 

 Hen, and of the length of eighteen inches : the 

 general colour brown, the feathers having rufous 

 edges, and the tail transversly banded with lighter 

 and darker brown : the bill blueish, with a yellow 

 cere, and on eaeh cheek a large brown patch or 

 spot, which is said often to remain through all the 

 varieties: the legs yellow* and strong, and the 

 thighs, as in most other birds of this tribe, well 

 clothed with lengthened feathers. 



It is well known that the birds of the genus 

 Falco vary more than most others in respect to 

 size and plumage, according to their age and sex. 



The Common Falcon appears to admit of nu- 



* Buffon affirms that the feet and cere are greenish, and that 

 those birds which have them yellow are considered by the Fal- 

 coners as of a very inferior kind. 



