20 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



Sub-Fam. Falconing. — True Falcons. 



Bill short, strongly curved and hooked, the upper mandible with 

 a sharp tooth (or sometimes two) overlapping the lower one, 

 which is short, truncated, and slightly notched to receive the tooth of 

 the upper maudible. The wings are long, with the second quill 

 usually longest, sometimes the third nearly equal to it, and one or 

 two of the first quills are usually notched on their inner webs. 

 The tail is moderately long, even, or very slightly rounded, and 

 broad ; the legs are short, muscular, and reticulated ; the toes length- 

 ened, with the outer and inner one generally very unequal in 

 length ; the claws sharp, well curved, and somewhat retractile. 



The true or noble Falcons, the type of the order, are the SioJi 

 Chasm, i. e., black-eyed, of Indian Falconers, all the species having 

 dark irides, as opposed to the Goolab Cliasm, or light-eyed Hawks. 

 They are usually powerful and muscular birds, capable of both 

 rapid and protracted flight. The head is large, the skull strongly 

 vaulted, and the eye-socket nearly closed ; the brain is large, and 

 the eyes expressive. The sternum is large, wide, with only two 

 small foramina, and has a large and deep keel for the insertion of 

 the pectoral muscle^ which are very powerful. The webs of their 

 quill feathers are strong and unyielding, and t^ey beat the air 

 strongly and rapidly with their wings. When high up, and hunting 

 for game, they soar in circles like other birds of prey, and descend 

 rapidly with closed wing when the quarry is raised, which they 

 usually strike in the air. From time immemorial they have been 

 trained by man to hunt, and in this state their courage and daring 

 are much increased, so that they will attack much larger birds than 

 in their wild state. They are usually of moderate size, and are 

 not numerous in individuals. They are found in every part of the 

 world, and have of late been divided into several genera. The 

 most typical of them breed on rocks, the others on trees. 



Gen. Falco, Lin., (in part). 



Cliar. — Bill with the upper mandible furnished with one strong 

 tooth, nostrils round, with a central tubercle; wings long and pointed, 



