LANNER FALCON. 41 



the Falcon on the nose of a stuffed gazelle. When 

 they are thus educated they take them out, and letting 

 two fly at once, one immediately rushes down upon 

 the nose of the poor gazelle and fixes therein its claws; 

 of course the animal is alarmed, and stopping, uses 

 every effort to shake off the bird; but the beating of 

 its wings almost blinds the poor creature, and bewilders 

 it still more. When the first bird is shaken off the 

 other takes its place, and thus the dogs have plenty of 

 time to come up. This same plan is said to be used 

 in taking- the wild boar and wild ass. 



The plumage of the young Lanner resembles that of 

 the young Saker, with the following exceptions: — The 

 markings of the feathers on the top of the head are 

 not so broad; the whitish colours of the edges of these 

 feathers predominate. The reddish tint of the nape is 

 more "prononce." The light edges of the upper parts 

 of the bird are less distinct, and not so brown as 

 in the Saker: on the contrary, these parts are covered 

 with small spots of a very pale red brown irregularly 

 scattered here and there — subject to variety in different 

 birds. The ground colour of the tail is paler than in 

 the Saker, but it is always broken as much upon the 

 external as the internal barbs of the tail quills, by 

 transverse bands, to the number of eleven or twelve, 

 the colour of which incomplete bands is like that of 

 the markings upon the wings. The spots upon the 

 superior parts of the bird are smaller than in the 

 Saker. The lesser wing coverts have dark longitudinal 

 markings, the least covered with whitish spots, generally 

 of an orbicular form; on the greater coverts these spots 

 are transverse and arranged in bands. 



In adult plumage the tints of the Lanner have some 

 analogy to those of the Peregrine and Jer-Falcon, but 



