EALCO PEREGRINUS. 



(Peregrine Falcon.) 



Head, cheeks, and back of the neck, black ; upper surface, wings, and tail, deep grey, equally banded with darker grey or blackish brown ; 

 outer webs of primaries, blackish brown; inner webs, obscurely barred with light buff; throat, whitish, passing into the huffish fawn color of 

 the chest, and becoming of a redder cast on the abdomen ; each feather of the throat streaked with a dark brown line down the centre, the 

 tip of each streak being expanded into a spot in the feathers covering the chest ; the remaining feathers of the under surface crossed with 

 numerous bars of deep brown ; bill, lead color ; cere and legs, light yellow ; claws, black ; irides, dark brown. The sexes are nearly alike in 

 coloring, but in the female the markings are darker and better defined ; she is also a good deal larger than the male. 



Male. — Expanse, 34 inches ; length, 15 ; wing, Hi ; tail, 5f ; bill, H ; tarsus, If. 



This noble species of Falcon is distributed over almost every country on the globe, being found from Canada to Cape Horn in 

 America, and throughout the whole of Europe, Asia, and Africa. No bird is more celebrated for its courage, strength, and rapidity, and in 

 the olden time it occupied a first place in the estimation of our ancestors, when the practice of falconry was their favorite pastime. The 

 Australian specimens differ somewhat in color and markings from those of Europe, which has induced Mr. Grould and other authors to 

 separate it as a species, under the name of Ealco Melanogenys ; but the very slight differences between the British and Australian specimens, 

 attributable, doubtless, to a long residence in this portion of the globe, and beautifully exemplifying the law of variation, scarcely justify us 

 in considering it a different species from the true Peregrine, with which it agrees, both in size, habits, and appearance. There is little doubt 

 that, were sufficient pains taken, it, as well as several other species of Australian Falcons, might be educated to pursue the different kinds of wild 

 animals distributed over this continent. It is known to inhabit every settled portion of this territory, and in all probability is a denizen of 

 the whole, though more commonly met with in the older colonies of New South Wales and South Australia, and always in pairs. The food of 

 the Peregrine Falcon consists of small animals and birds, especially of the duck tribe, whence its name of the " duck hawk " in some parts. It 

 delights in rocky and precipitous localities, and, from its great strength and daring disposition, is able to cope with prey of much greater 

 weight than itself. During Captain Sturt's residence at the " Depot," one was shot in the act of taking a duck from the water in the " glen ; " 

 and Mr. White says he saw it strike and break the wing of a large cormorant, and, in spite of its struggling and cries, conduct it to the 

 water's edge. The sandstone cliffs on the banks of the Murray, and other rocky and inaccessible situations, are chosen for the purpose of 

 nidification. The nest is rather flat, and formed of sticks, generally placed on the edge of a cliff". It has been known, though rarely, to 

 build in trees. The eggs are two in number, of a reddish buff color, thickly blotched and streaked with chestnut brown. vSize, 2 inches 1 

 line, by 1 inch 7t lines. 



