104 



rump and upper wing-coverts, all the shafts distinctly indicated by a black line down the centre of the 

 feather ; quills blackish brown, washed with slate-colour, which is rather clearer on the secondaries, 

 the shafts plainly indicated, the lower surface of the wing somewhat paler, the primaries clearly washed 

 with grey on the under side; tail clear grey above, with indistinct fuscous edgings to the feathers, 

 blackish grey underneath, inclining to rufous near the base, and barred across with dull blackish 

 markings ; fore part of the cheeks blackish ; lower surface of the body blackish grey, j list tinged here 

 and there with rufous, all the shafts distinctly marked; the flanks, thighs, and under tail-coverts 

 clearer slate-colour; under wing-coverts deep blackish grey, almost entirely black; beak horn-blue, 

 lighter at the base ; cere pale greenish yellow ; feet pale lemon-yellow. Total length 15 inches, 

 cuhnen 075, wing 11*9, tail 7*5, tarsus l - 3. 

 Another male, apparently adult, also only differs from the foregoing example in being a little more rufous 

 on the abdomen. 



Adult Female. Above dusky brown, strongly tinged with slate-colour, the shafts distinctly indicated ; the 

 nape strongly tinged with rufous, this colour, however, being for the most part confined to the base of 

 the feather, and hidden by the grey of those overlapping ; quills blackish grey, the secondaries more 

 inclining to brown, the primaries externally washed with grey, the lower surface much paler, and the 

 primaries strongly washed with grey on the under side ; tail slaty grey above, more rufous under- 

 neath, very thickly crossed with alternate bands of rufous and dusky, all the rectrices tipped with 

 fulvous ; lores whitish ; orbital region and ear-coverts as well as a distinct moustache black ; hinder 

 part of the cheeks and entire throat rich buff ; rest of the under surface of the body buff on the upper 

 part, gradually merging into rufous on the abdomen, all the centres of the feathers blackish, giving a 

 striped appearance, the sides of the upper part of the breast entirely blackish ; the under tail-coverts 

 less thickly marked ; the thighs deep chestnut, with longitudinal black shaft-stripes ; under wing- 

 coverts deep black, all the feathers edged with rufous ; bill horn-blue, paler at the base of the lower 

 mandible ; feet greenish yellow ; iris dark hazel-brown. Total length 15 inches, culmen - 85, wing 

 12 - 9, tail 7 - 5, tarsus 1-4. 



Male not quite adult. Like the female in the " Hobby " plumage, but more pronounced slaty grey, under 

 surface of the body not so distinctly striped, but more obscured with dusky slaty grey; the thighs 

 deeper chestnut ; no rufous on the nape at all ; the under wing- coverts blackish, with scarcely any 

 admixture of rufous ; feet orange-yellow. 



A still younger male, obtained on the Cyclades by Dr. Kriiper on the 25th of October, differs from the above 

 in having the feathers on the crown and back broadly margined with Hght rufous, the secondaries and 

 wing-coverts being also similarly margined ; the sides of the head and underparts generally are also 

 washed with light rufous buff, the chestnut on the thighs being replaced by that colour, and the dark 

 markings on the underparts being very distinctly defined. In this plumage it bears considerable 

 resemblance to the young Hobby already figured. 



The present Falcon, first described by Gene from a specimen obtained by La Marmora in 

 Sardinia, is known only to inhabit the southern countries of Europe, Palestine, Syria, North- 

 western Africa, and Madagascar. It has in error been recorded from North-eastern Africa by 

 Dr. von Heuglin; but later researches proved that the species referred to by that eminent 

 naturalist was really Falco concolor, and not the present bird, which does not occur there. 

 The Eleonoran Falcon has been met with in Spain by Lord Lilford, who writes as follows : — 

 " We were returning from a drive in the pine-forest, from which we had just emerged on the 



