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eggs on the top amongst the stones. It does not breed all over the island, but generally near 

 the shore, about thirty to forty paces from parts washed by the sea. If the bird uses the same 

 nesting-spot annually I cannot say; but I believe that suitable places are annually inhabited. 

 The number of eggs generally is two or three; and I have never yet found four or five. 

 According to my experience I found as often three as two eggs. When three eggs were in the 

 nest I often found only two fertile, and have only found one fertile in some cases where two were 

 deposited. On the 6th of October my servant found an egg by the side of a young bird about 

 fourteen days old, and on the 7th of October again one egg in a nest which the young birds had 

 left. Dr. Erhard considered his F. dichrous a resident, but does not give his reasons. On the 

 other hand he considers F. eleonorce to be a summer resident. Up to the end of September I 

 looked on F. eleonorce as a resident on the Cyclades — that is, that it spent the winter there, as I 

 was assured by several hunters was the case. At the monastery of Myconos, where the Eleonoran 

 Falcon was well known, I was assured that it migrates away, as it was never seen in the winter. 

 I cannot say which of these two statements is correct ; but my opinion is that the Falcon, with its 

 young, spread themselves about the larger islands and on the coasts of the mainland of Greece, 

 and are therefore less seldom seen. As it is a frequenter of the sea, I do not think that it leaves 

 the sea and undertakes long journeys into Asia and Africa. On the coast of Asia Minor examples 

 have lately been procured ; but, on the other hand, it has not been recorded from Egypt. On 

 Naxos, which, during the winter, is visited by numbers of sea-birds, no Falcons remain. On 

 Myconos, where the cliffs are very steep, and consequently few sea-birds are found, there are also 

 but few Falcons. 



" All the summer I believed that the Eleonoran Falcons remained about the islands where 

 they breed, and thence undertook daily wanderings. When on Myconos I ascertained from the 

 herdsmen who lived all the year round on Tragonisi, that the Falcons appear on the island 

 in April, and in October (when the young can fly) leave again. That the latter is the case I 

 myself ascertained when on Tragonisi, from the 2nd to the 12th of October, as they greatly 

 diminished in numbers. 



" The voice of the Eleonoran Falcon much resembles that of the Peregrine, but is much 

 weaker. In the breeding-season, When uttered in play, it sounds like kek kek. The alarm-note 

 is a call of three syllables, like wek wek wek, the emphasis being equally laid on each of the 

 three syllables, or chiefly on the second. When calling to its mate, it calls twice wek wek, the 

 latter being deepest ; and when quarrelling I have heard them utter these notes as loud as if 

 they were uttered by Parrots. 



" With regard to the food of the Eleonoran Falcon, it consists chiefly of birds caught by the 

 Falcon and placed unplucked before the young. I cannot give a full list of the birds on which 

 it feeds, as, owing to the heavy storms, I was prevented from visiting the breeding-places at the 

 proper season. Near the nests I found remains of the following birds, viz. : — Oriolus galbula, 

 Upupa epops, Perdix cotumix, Columba livia, Lanius collurio, Muscicapa grisola, and others that 

 I could not make out. 



" As the Eleonoran Falcon is a noble Falcon, and in early ages was used for falconry, I 

 thought that it lived entirely on birds, and was therefore surprised to find, during the breeding- 

 season, castings containing remains of beetles near the nests. I supposed that these belonged to 



