214 FALCON. 



143._MINUTE FALCON. 



Falco minutus, Ind. Orn. i. p. 50, Lin. i. 131. Bris. i. 315. pi. 30. f. i, Id. 8vo. 



p. 91. Gm.Lin.x. 285: 

 Falco Brissonianus, Shaw's Zool, vii. 203. 

 Minute Falcon, Gen. Si/n. i. p. 112, 



LESS than the Merlm; length llfin.; bill blaek; eere brown; 

 plumage above brown, variegated with rufous ; at the back of the 

 head a mixture of white ; throat and fore part of the neck white, 

 spotted with rufous brown, the rest of the inider parts white, with 

 transverse rufous brown stripes; under tail coverts white ; under wing 

 coverts dirty white, with brown spots ; quills brown, barred within 

 with darker brown ; tail brown, with six bands of a darker colour ; 

 legs yellow ; claws black. 



M. Brisson describes another, which had only four bands on the 

 tail, and the breast marked with spear-shaped spots. 



Inhabits the Island of Malta. 



