COMMON FALCON. 



Falco communis. F. fuscus rufo undulaius, cauda snbnigrd 



fasciata, pectore abdomineque albidis fusco maciilatis. 

 Birown Falcon, with rufous undulations^ the tail marked by 



dusky bars 5 the breast and belly whitish, with dusky spots. 

 Falco communisi F. rodro ccerulescente, cera, iridibus pedi" 



busque'luteis, corpore fusco, pennarum margifie rufo, rectricibus 



fasciis saturatioribus. Lath, ind. orn, 

 talco communis. Lin, Syst, Nat. GmeL 

 Common Falcon. Latk.syn. 

 Le Faucon. Buff. ois. PI. EnU 470. 421. AQQi 



The standard or representative of the Commotl 

 Falcon is described as of the size of a middling 

 Hen, and of the length of eighteen inches : the 

 general colour brown, the feathers having rufous 

 edges, and the tail transversly banded with lighter 

 and darker brown : the bill blueish, with a yellow 

 cere, and on each cheek a large brown patch or 

 spot, which is said often to remain through all the 

 varieties: the legs yellow* and strong, and the 

 thighs, as in most other birds of this tribe^ well 

 clothed with lengthened feathers. 



It is well known that the birds of the genus 

 Falco vary more than most others in respect to 

 size and plumage, according to their age and sex. 



The Common Falcon appears to admit of nu- 



* Buffon affirms that the feet and cere are greenish, and that 

 those birds which have them yellow are considered by the Fal* 

 coners as of a very inferior kind. 



