FALCONID.E. 49 



an inch and a quarter shorter; the fifth is just perceptibly shorter than the second; the sixth 

 to the tenth diminish an inch each in succession ; and the first just exceeds the eighth. The 

 inner webs of the first three are strongly sinuated, and the outer webs of the second, third, 

 and fourth, more obliquely sinuated. The tail is very square, the two centre feathers being 

 rather the shortest. The outer thigh feathers reach half way down the tarsus. The tarsi are 

 short and strong, covered anteriorly with feathers for about an inch below the joint, naked 

 their whole length posteriorly. They are protected before by about eleven large transverse 

 shield-shaped scales, and there are about as many equally large behind, their sides being 

 reticulated with small scales. The toes are short, the middle and outer one connected by a 

 short membrane. The outer toe is a little longer than the inner one, the middle one is fully 

 a quarter of an inch longer than the outer one, and the hind one is the shortest. There are 

 four shield-shaped scales on the hind toe, four or five on the inner one, five or six on the 

 outer one, and about twelve on the middle one; but there are some slight variations in different 

 specimens. 



Dimensions 



Of a male. 



Inches. Lines. 

 Length from the tip of the bil] to the end of Length of the bill, measured along its ridge 



the tail ..... 22 „ of the cere on the ridge 



„ of the tail .... 8 6 „ of the tarsus .... 



„ of the longest quill feather 15 „ of the middle toe 



,, of the bill from the angle of the ,, of its claw .... 



mouth ...... 1 6 „ of the hind toe . 



„ from the anterior edge of the orbit ,, of its claw .... 



to the tip of the bill ... 1 6 



DESCRIPTION 

 Of a female, killed at the nest, near Carlton, May 22, 1827- 



Colour of the dorsal aspect almost precisely the same as that of the male; but the feathers 

 are more downy, and the blackish bars on the tail are more distinct. The throat is 

 sparingly streaked with brown ; the breast is darker than that of the male ; the belly has less 

 of the bright yellowish-brown, and is studded with short bars of blackish-brown : the flanks 

 are also strongly barred with the latter colour, and the yellowish-brown of the thigh feathers 

 is darker than in the male. The cere and legs have a bluish livid colour. The tarsi are 

 thicker than in the male. The third and fourth quill feathers are of equal length, the relative 

 proportions of the others being the same as in the male. 



Dimensions 

 Of the female. 



Inches. Lines. 

 Length from the tip of the bill to the end of • Length of the tarsus 



the tail ...... 26 ,, of the middle toe 



„ of the tail .... 10 „ of its claw 



„ of the longest quill feather . 16 6 



nches. 

 1 



Lines. 

 4 







6 



2 



6 



1 



9 







9 







9 







11 



Inches. 

 3 



Lines. 

 



1 



11 







9 



