0* 



FALCO SACER. 



Saker Falcon. 



Accipiter falco sacer, Briss. Orn., torn. i. p. 337. 



— stellaris, Briss. ib., p. 359. 



Falco sacer, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 273.— Schleg. Rev. Crit. des Ois. d'Eur., pp. 2, 9.-Bonap. 

 Rev. Zool., 1850, p. 485.— Strickl. Orn. Syn., vol. i. p. 79. 



stellaris, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 274. 



lanarius, Pall. Zoog. Ross.-Asiat., torn. i. p. 330 (excl. of syn.).-Temm. Man. d'Orn., torn. i. p. 20, torn. iii. 

 p. lO.-Gould, Birds of Eur., vol. i. pi. 20— Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 19, Falco, sp. 2. 



cyanopus, Gesn., Thienemann, Rhea, tab. 



Le Sacre, Buff. Hist. Nat. des Ois. edit. Sonn., torn. iii. p. 92. 



I am unacquainted with any species of Falcon the synonymy of which is in such a state of confusion as that 

 of the present bird, familiarly known to most living ornithologists as the Saker. I might have greatly mul- 

 tiplied the list of names given above ; but as a degree of uncertainty as to their really pertaining to this bird 

 would have rested upon many of them, I have thought it best to restrict their number. I may state that the 

 Saker is considerably less courageous, and consequently of less esteem among falconers than the Peregrine, 

 the Jerfalcon, and its immediate allies. So ably have these and all other particulars respecting the bird 

 been treated by my friend Professor Schlegel in his admirable ' Traite de Fauconnerie,' that I must advise my 

 readers, and all who are interested in falconry, to consult it whenever they may have an opportunity of so doino-, 

 and content myself with giving a brief sketch of its habits and range from the writings of those who have 

 had the advantage of observing the bird in its native haunts, never having myself seen it alive except in a 

 state of captivity. In size it considerably exceeds the Falco jug ger of India, to which it is nearly affined, 

 and which it also resembles in habits, disposition, and economy. In south-eastern Europe, in Asia Minor, 

 and in the intermediate countries as far as Afghanistan, this bird will probably be found in all situations 

 suited to its habits. It is known to breed in abundance in the low, flat, country of Bulgaria, and it is 

 doubtless also to be found in the sandy deserts of Asia Minor and northern Persia. In the Rev. H. B. 

 Tristram's " Notes on the Ornithology of Palestine," that gentleman says :— " 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. It seems to prefer the wide plains and deserts to the cliffs of the Jordan valley. The 

 Sheikhs of the Beni 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." 



" This very handsome Falcon," says Mr. E. C. Taylor, " appears to be rare in Egypt ; for, with the 

 exception of a fine female obtained near Girgeh, I never saw it alive or dead, nor did I hear of any other 

 having been seen in Egypt. The legs and feet of the adult are yellow, and not blue as they are sometimes 

 represented." 



The following account of the nesting of this species, from the pen of W. H. Simpson, Esq., appeared in 

 the 'Ibis' for I860:— 



" On the evening of the 29th of April last, we were strolling on a low flat island in the Danube, the 

 edge of which is well covered with tall poplars and other trees. Opposite this belt of trees, and across 

 the river, the Turkish shore rises pretty steeply to a level with the plateau of the Dobrudska, whilst behind, 

 toward the mainland of Wallachia, there stretches an immense tract of low ground, partly swamp, partly 

 forest, and partly open plain. On getting close to the river, in a place where the trees are very tall and 

 not thickly grouped, my attention was drawn to a good-sized nest which was placed about one-third of the 

 way up a tallish poplar. It was resting upon a large branch close to the bole of the tree, and appeared 

 exceedingly easy of access. Whilst my friend was climbing towards it, the bird slipped off and was shot 

 immediately. It proved to be a female Falco sacer. The nest was not much larger than that of a Hooded 

 Crow, but was deep and comfortably lined, and appeared externally as like a large Crow's nest as one 

 bundle of sticks is like another. The eggs, four in number, were slightly incubated. In size they seem to be 

 intermediate between those of the Peregrine and Gyr Falcons, but are longer in proportion to their breadth. 

 Two of them are light in colour, the other two much darker." One of the latter, accurately represented 

 on Plate XII. fig. 1 of the 'Ibis' for 1860, measures 22 inches by 1*6 inch, and is of a rich, bright, chestnut 

 red, minutely freckled with black, with a few hair-like marks of the same colour, and a number of small 

 light-coloured patches. 



"The male bird," continues Mr. Simpson, " was shortly afterwards observed sitting utterly motionless 





