114 FALCOIS'IDiE. 



short and stiff, with more or less tapering rectrices. Feet strong, rather short, the 

 tarsus shorter than the tibia, feathered more or less extensively, elsewhere irregularly 

 reticulate in small pattern varying with the genera or subgenera ; never scutellate in 

 single series before or behind. Middle toe very long ; talons very strong." 



FALCO. 



Falco, Linnffius, Syst. Nat. i. p. 124 (1766) ; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. i. p. 374 (1874). 



Of this genus, in its widest sense, about forty species are known, including all the 

 true Falcons, the Hobbies, and the Merlins ; and if the Gyr-Falcons (Hierofaleo), to 

 which Dr. Bowdler Sharpe considers Falco mexicanm to belong, are added, the number 

 recognized would be more than fifty. This large assemblage of Birds of Prey is 

 represented by species in every quarter of the globe. Peregrines and Hobbies being 

 found in all the zoological regions, while Merlins and Gyr-Falcons breed more to the 

 northward, the latter being resident, while the Merlins are known as migrants to 

 temperate regions in winter. 



All members of the genus Falco, whether large or small, have powerful feet and 

 talons, with the outer toe longer than the inner one, the Gyr-Falcons alone having the 

 outer and inner toe about equal in length. 



1. Falco peregrinns. 



Falco per egrinus, Tunstall, Orn. Brit. p. 1^. 



FaUo anatum, Scl. & Salv. Ibis, 1859, p. 219"; Salv. P. Z. S. 1867, p. 158"; Duges, La Nat. i. 



p. 138 *. 

 Falco per egrinus, var. anatum, Lawr. ZSIem. Best. Soc. N. H. ii. p. 300". 

 Falco peregrinus ajiatum, Ridgw. Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. x. p. 577* ; Bendire, Life Hist. N. Amer. 



Birds, i. p. 292, 1. 10. figs. 5-7 ' ; Fisher, Bull. U. S. Dep. Agr. no. 3, p. 106, t. 15 ' ; Nekon, 



N. Amer. Fauna, no. 14, p. 38 (1899)'. 

 Falco peregrimis, var. nigriceps, Grayson, Pr. Best. Soc. N. H. xiv. p. 268". 

 Falco communis, Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. i. p. 376^'. 



Supra pnlchre cinereus, plnmis plerisque schistaeeo-nigro fasciatis ; pileo saturate cinereo concolore, rhachidibos 

 plnmarum vix nigro indicatis ; interscapulio saturatiore et latins nigro transfasciatim notato ; lemigibas 

 nigricantibus, estns cinereo lavatis, intns pallide cineraceo fasciatim notatis ; cauda cinerea, albido 

 tenninata et fasciis intermptis nigris regnlariter notata, fascia nigra snbterminali latiore ; loris et 

 fronte basaU albidis ; facie lateral! genisque nigris, regione parotica poetica cinereo lavata ; macnla 

 suboculari alba ; colli lateribus, genis anticis et gastraeo toto albidis, hoc plus minnsve rubido lavato ; 

 pectore macnlis pancis nigris linearibus vel sagittiformibns punctulato ; pectoris lateribns et hypochondriis 

 tibiisqne cinereo adumbratis et regnlariter nigro fasciatis ; subcaudalibos fnlvescenti-albis ; snbalaribns 

 et axillaribns albis, nigro fasciatis : rostro cyanescente, apicem versus nigro ; cera et rictu Imte flavis, 

 regione orbital! nuda pallidiore ; pedibus pallide flavis, unguibus nigris ; iride saturate brunnea. Long, 

 tota drca 16'0, alae 11'7, candle 5-6o, culm. l-O, tarsi 1"8. (Descr. maris ex Corpus Christ!, Texas. 

 ilns. nostr.) 



2 [ad. mari similis, sed major, saturatior, cauda distincte 10-fasciata ; corpore snbtns magis rubescente, 

 fasciis nigris fortius indicatis. Long, tota 19*0, alaB 13*6. (Bescr. feminae ex Guadalajara. Mus. 

 nostr.) 



