FALCON, 213 



142.— DWARF FALCON. 



Falco minullus, Ind. Orn. Su}}. p. x, LevaiL Ois. i. pi. 34. Daud. li. p. 88. Shaw's 



Zoul. vii. 205. 

 Dwarf Falcon, Gen. Sifii. Sup. ii. p. 48. 



LESS than tlie Merlin, but with the proportions of the Spanow- 

 Hawk, on a smaller scale. Bill black ; cere and legs yellow ; irides 

 yellow orange; upper parts of the body, wings, and tail, brown; 

 beneath white, with a few bro^vn spots on the tliroat, which increase 

 in size on the breast, and become transverse bars on the belly and 

 thighs ; the quills reach a trifle beyond the base of the tail, which is 

 even at the end ; the prime quills banded with white on the inner 

 webs, the secondaries the same, but the bands are broader ; under 

 whig coverts rufous, spotted with white ; tail brown, marked with 

 obsolete darker bands, which are whitish on the inner webs. 



Inhabits the Cape of Good Hope : is a bold species, generally 

 prejnng on smaller birds* and grasshoppers — drives away the Shrike 

 from its c]uarters, as well as many birds of prey larger than itself, 

 even Buzzards and Kites. 



The male and female generally seen together ; build on trees, 

 making a nest of flexible twigs intermixed with moss and leaves, 

 with a lining of wool and feathers ; the female lays five eggs spotted 

 with brown, and is nearly twice the size of the male. 



* M. Levaillant observeB, that one was so daring as to take a bird from the table at 

 ■which he sat, while he was preparing others. 



