^9^ ON SOME SPECIES OF TK^ 



F. comrau- This I have never been able to identify as a dis- 



nis. , 



tinct species in any collection, either British or 

 foreign, and though it may not at present be ge- 

 nerally admitted, I have no hesitation in asserting, 

 that it is not specifically distinct from the Faico 

 peregrinus of Gmelin and Latham. They are 

 similar in size, and the colour of the bill, cere, 

 irides, and legs, is the same in both. Of the 

 Falco communis, there are twelve varieties de- 

 scribed, many of which shew distinctly the tran- 

 sition to the Peregrine Falcon, and have occa- 

 sioned a contrariety of opinion concerning which 

 species they ought to be referred to. I have seen 

 individuals in which the characters of the Com- 

 mon and the Peregrine Falcons were combined in 



on some of the species, whose history ' I have endeavoured to 

 illustrate, with my own observations ; and I find that in several 

 instances, I have drawn conclusions similai* to those of the Ger- 

 man naturalist. On account of this circumstance, I at first felt 

 inclined to exclude some of the following observations, but in 

 so doing, I found that the remainder must necessarily be pre- 

 sented in a less intelligible form. I have therefore allowed the 

 paper to remain as it was originally written, in the belief that 

 it may not be the less acceptable in consequence of its agree- 

 ment in some respects with the Gemeinutzige Naturgeschichie 

 Deutcklandsj to such as have not had an opportunity of con- 

 sulting that work ; and to those who have, I trust that this ex- 

 planation will be deemed sufficient. 



I have added a few notes from Beckstein and others, t® 

 point out those particulars in which we coincide or differ. 



• • • 



