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as well as in Greece it is, Dr. Kriiper writes, not so abundant as is generally supposed, and is 

 more frequently obtained in the winter than in the summer. He is unaware if it breeds in 

 Greece. Canon Tristram, who met with it in Palestine, writes (Ibis, 1865, p. 258) : — "This 

 splendid Falcon only came once under my observation in the oak-forests of Bashan, where I 

 was close to it as it perched in a tree overhead. I did not add it to our trophies, having only 

 two charges of dust-shot in my gun, for which, of course, it cared but little. It seems to prefer 

 the wide plains and deserts to the cliffs of the Jordan valley. The Sheikhs of the Bern Sakk'r 

 (sons of the Falcon) make it a point of distinction to possess several of these birds trained for 

 the chase of the gazelle ; and the distinction between it and the Lanner is well known to all the 

 Arabs. None of them seem to be aware of or to recognize the Peregrine of the coast." 



In North-east Africa the Saker is much less common than the Lanner. According to 

 Captain Shelley (B. of Egypt, p. 190) " this Falcon is rather rare in Egypt and Nubia. In 1868 

 I obtained two specimens — one near Kom Ombo, the other near Sioot. It is called by the 

 Arabs 'Saker el hor;' and they train it to hunt the gazelle." Mr. E. C. Taylor obtained one 

 near Girgeh, but never saw it again; and Mr. Blanford writes (Geol. & Zool. of Abyss, p. 289), 

 " I killed a single specimen at Kelamet, in the Lebka valley, nearly 3000 feet above the sea. 

 I saw a pair chased by Crows (Corvus scapulatus), and succeeded in shooting one. It has a 

 remarkably pale head, whitish isabelline with dusky streaks, is dusky brown above, and dusky 

 with broad pale edges to the feathers beneath, darker on the body and lighter on the head than 

 in Schlegel's figure. The wing measures 14 inches, tail nearly 8. I saw a very similar specimen 

 at Lahej, near Aden, which was shot by a friend. Persian and Afghan specimens, Dr. Jerdon 

 informs me, have darker heads." 



In Asia the Saker is found as far east as China. I find but few details respecting its range 

 in Asia Minor ; but it occurs in Persia, where, according to Mr. Blanford, it is largely used in 

 hawking ; and he believes that he saw it in Baluchistan. In Turkestan Dr. Severtzoff met with 

 it in the valley of Tschilik, in the low mountains of Dschalanash, in September. In India, 

 according to Mr. Blyth, it inhabits the Punjab, Sulimani, and Salt ranges; and Dr. Jerdon 

 writes (Ibis, 1871, p. 239): — "The Cherrug Falcon visits the Punjab and neighbouring pro- 

 vinces on this side of the Sutlej in considerable numbers in the cold weather, and is still more 

 numerous and common all along the northern and western frontier. Many are caught annually 

 in the Punjab, near Lahore and Umritsir, and also about Ferozepore and the desert country east 

 of the Sutlej . Near Sirsa I have seen five or six in one morning's ride ; and one or two came 

 regularly to roost on a tree close by the traveller's bungalow there. I never saw it in Kashmir ; 

 and I do not think that any are captured there. I had not an opportunity of observing what 

 this Falcon chiefly preys on; but all the Punjab falconers assert that its especially favourite 

 food is the large 'Sandha' lizard (Uromastix hardwicki)." Mr. Hume, referring to this Falcon, 

 says (Stray Feathers, i. p. 152), " I only saw a single specimen of this Falcon in Sindh. 

 Further north, in the Punjab, in the Ferozepore and Sirsa districts for instance, they are exces- 

 sively abundant. My single specimen, a nearly adult male, with the wing 14 inches, was shot at 

 Shahgodria, at the foot of the hills dividing Sindh from Kelat, in the Mehur subdivision of 

 Upper Sindh. I was always on the look-out for this bird, and not unfrequently shot Falco 



