ICELAND OR JER FALCON. 557 



when placed obliquely it shews a slight undulation. Nostrils round, 

 basal, lateral, with a soft papilla in the centre, connected with the upper 

 edge. Head rather large and round ; neck shortish ; body ovate, ante- 

 riorly broad ; the whole conformation indicative of great strength and ac- 

 tivity, such as befit a hunter. Legs robust, short ; tarsus feathered more 

 than half way down, their exposed part covered anteriorly with small 

 quincuncial transversely oblong scales, as is the proximal portion of all 

 the toes, posteriorly with smaller papillar scales (there are no broad scales 

 or other scutella on the tarsus, as in most other Hawks, and in the Pere- 

 grine). Toes, excepting at the base, covered above with broad scales or 

 scutella, scabrous and tubercular below ; middle and outer toes connected 

 by a membrane ; second and fourth toes nearly equal, the latter very little 

 longer, the hind toe shortest, but with the longest claw ; claws strong, 

 curved, acute, marginate beneath, convex above. 



Plumage compact, imbricated. Feathers of the head short and nar- 

 row, of the back rounded, of the neck and breast broadly oblong, of the 

 thighs long and rounded. Space between the bill and eye covered with 

 short bristly feathers. Wings long, about four inches shorter than the 

 tail ; the third quill longest, but scarcely longer than the second, the first 

 and fourth of the same length. The first and second are cut out or si- 

 nuated on the inner edge towards the tip, the second slightly. The tail 

 is long, straight, slightly rounded, of twelve broad feathers, which at the 

 end suddenly taper to a point. When worn, they seem rounded, but in 

 my specimens the plumage was new. 



Bill and cere pale blue, the rather narrow ridge of the upper mandi- 

 ble darker. Iris brownish-black. Feet greyish-blue, the under parts of 

 the toes greenish-yeUow ; claws dusky. The general colour of the plu- 

 mage above, is brownish-grey, the feathers having a very narrow margin 

 of paler. Some of the upper tail-coverts are tipped with brownish- white, 

 and the base or concealed part of the posterior cervical feathers is of that 

 colour. The quills are more or less mottled with brownish-white on the 

 inner webs. The tail is transversely barred with thirteen rows of trans- 

 versely oblong spots of brownish-white, confined chiefly to the inner webs, 

 although there are some on the outer ones towards their end ; the tips are 

 of the same light colour. A few of these spots appear on the upper sur- 

 face of the feathers towards their extremities. The tail is moreover very 

 obscurely barred with darker. The two middle feathers are without 

 white spots. The throat is brownish-white, finely streaked with brown. 



