FALCON. 137 



and a dash of brown down the middle ; chin nearly white ; thigh 

 feathers long and full, reaching much over the joint : these are pale 

 rufous, with a tew dark dashes down the shafts of many of them ; 

 wings, back, and tail dove-colour, the feathers streaked with black ; 

 prime quills rather darker, the outer one shorter than the second, and 

 marked on both webs Avith white spots, the others only on the inner 

 w ebs, the ends pale ; the tail 5i in. long, the colour of the quills, 

 crossed with four blackish bands, one at the base, two at equal 

 distances about the middle, and lastly a broad one at the end, but the 

 veiy^ tip inclines to white; the wings, when closed, reach three-fourths 

 on the tail ; legs slender, toes very long, both yellow ; claws hooked, 

 black. 



Tlie above description is probably that of the female, for I 

 observe in another specimen, which did not differ materially in 

 plumage, that the tail had only a single bar near the end, in this 

 differing tiom each other, in the manner of the two sexes of the 

 Kestril. 



Both the above birds were in the collection of the late F. F. 

 Foljambe, Esq. of Grosvenor Place, who obliged me with an accurate 

 di'a>ving by the late, much to be lamented, Mr. S. Edwards. 



Mr. F. informed me, that one of them was shot in January, at 

 Osberton, in Nottinghamshire, but was uncertain about the other. 

 These birds having yellow irides, make them to differ from the Merlin ; 

 Ijut it must be confessed, that in respect to plumage, they have much 

 resemblance to that bird. 



TOL. t. 



