FALCONIDiE. 23 



Dimensions. 



Inches. Lines. Inches. Lines. 



Length from the tip of the bill to the end of Length of the longest quill feather . .17 



the tail ..... 24 „ of the tarsus .... 2 



„ of the bill from the angle of the „ of the middle toe ... 1 6 



mouth ..... 1 6 „ of each of the claws in a straight 



,, of the bill measured along the curve ^ line ...... 1 



of its ridge ..... 2 ,, of ditto, following their curvature 1 7 



The old female is about two inches longer than the male, has less white on the 

 head, and some brown spots on the breast. 



An immature bird differed from the preceding in all the wing coverts being 

 tipped with rusty- white, in the feathers of the top of the head having large oblong 

 brown marks in their centres, in the breast being spotted with brown rhomboidal 

 marks, and in there being some brown spots on the flanks. 



[7.] 1. Falco peregrinus. (Linn.) Peregrine Falcon. 



Genus. Falco. Linn. Auctorum. 



Spotted Hawk. (Falco maculatus.) Edwards, i., pi. 3. Male, from Hudson's Bay. 



Black Hawk. (Falco niger.) Idem, i., pi. 4. Female, from Hudson's Straits. 



Peregrine Falcon. Penn. Arct. Zool., ii., p. 202, No. 97- 



Falco Peregrinus. Lath. Ind., i., p. 38, sp. 72. 



Great-footed Hawk. (Falco Peregrinus.) Ord. Wilson's Orn., ix., p. 120, pi. 76. Female. 



Falco Peregrinus. Selby. Brit. Orn., i., p. 37, pi. 15. Richards. App. Parry's Sec. Voy., 



p. 342, No. 1. Buonap. Syn., p. 27, No. 9. 

 Apeestre-kaeoo. (Little Eagle.) Cree Indians. 



This bold and active bird is a typical species of the Ci True Falcons," or, as 

 they have been termed on account of their docility, the " Noble Birds of Prey." 

 They are characterised by a short, strong bill, which is curved from the base, and 

 is armed on each side, near the point, with an acute tooth, that fits a notch in the 

 lower mandible. The cere is very short, and the nostrils are small circular open- 

 ings, with a slender round pillar in the centre. Their wings are long and pointed, 

 the first and third quill feathers nearly equalling the second, which is the longest 

 of all. Baron Cuvier ascribes to this form of the wings the difficulty which the 

 Falcons experience in ascending vertically, and the consequent necessity they are 

 under of making a very oblique ascent in calm weather, or of flying against the 

 wind when they wish to rise in the atmosphere during a breeze. On the other 



