50 
BIRDS. ACCIPITRES. 
Falco. 
Length 12, breadth 27 inches; weight 7 ounces. Bill blue; irides’hazel ; 
margin of the eye, cere, and legs, yellow. The plumage, above, is bluish-black, 
the margins of the feathers paler; below, white, with longitudinal black spots. 
Above each eye a white line ; hind-head with two yellow spots. Quills (the 
first of which is almost equal in length to the third), dusky black ; the inner 
webs with oval transverse reddish spots. Bump, thighs, and vent, pale 
orange. Tall with brownish bars, the tips white ; two middle feathers entire- 
ly of a deep dove colour. In t\\e female the plumage has a reddish tinge. 
Nest placed on trees, rocks, or heath. Eggs 3 or 4. Young lighter coloured; 
feathers above bordered with yellowish red, especially the crown ; below, 
tinged yellowish-red, with longitudinal brown spots. — The hobby pursues 
larks, and is occasionally used in hunting with the net, to frighten the birdB 
and prevent them from taking wing. Departs in October. 
b. Destitute of mustaches. Inner wehs of the first and se- 
cond quills abbreviated towards the extremity ; outer web 
of the second abbreviated. Tarsi reticidated. 
13. F. Tinnuncidus. Kestrel, Stannel, or Wind-Hover. — 
Middle toe shorter than the tarsus. 
Will. Orn. 50. Sibh. Scot. 15. Penn. Brit. . Zool. i. 195. Tern. Orn. i. 
29. — W, Cudyll coch — Stationary and common. 
Length 14, breadth 27 inches; weight ounces. Bill blue; cere and feet 
yellow. Back and wing-covers red, with black spots ; head and rump gTey. 
A black streak descends from the gape. Under parts pale rust colour, spot- 
ted and barred with black ; thighs and vent plain. QuHls 22, dusky, spotted 
with wliite. Tail grey, with a broad black bar near the end ; feathers 12, 
slightly arched, with the tv/o middle ones incumbent, and nearly half an 
inch longer than the rest. Wings, when closed, reach about three-fourths of 
the length of the tail. Oil-bag very small, with a tuft of yellowish feathers, 
dark at the base. Palate bluish, with two rows of recurved teeth. Vermi- 
form appendages ^th of an inch, fixed. A small caecum about |ths. Female with 
the plumage, above, the same as the back ; beneath paler, with indistinct spots 
and streaks. Tail with transverse dusky bars, and a broad one at the end. 
Nest placed in hollows of trees, rocks, or ruins. Eggs 4, dirty white, with 
red blotches. Young like the female. — F eeds on mice and beetles ; and may 
be seen in the act of seeking for its prey, hovering stationary, at some height, 
in the air, with its head to windward. 
14. F. JEsalon. Merlin.- — Middle toe as long as the tarsus. :ij 
Will. Orn. 50. Penn. Brit. Zool. i. 200.— Merlin or Stone-Falcon, Mont. 
Orn. Diet. Suppt. Tern. Orn. i. 27. — IF, Corwalch. — Near woods.— Not 
common. 
Length 12, breadth 25 inches; weight 5^ ounces. Bill blue; cere, margin 
of the eye and feet lemon-yellow. Plumage, above, bluish-grey, with a longi- 
tudinal black spot on each feather ; beneath, the throat is v/hite, and the re- 
mainder yeUo wish-white, with oblong dusky spots pointing downwards. 
QuHls reaching two-thirds of the tail ; the first nearly equal to the fourth. Jj 
Tail-feathers v/ith bands, and an entire dark broad one tipt with white at the a 
end. In the female., the plumage is tinged with brown, and the spots below H 
are more numerous. Nest in trees or on the ground. Eggs 5 or 6; white, 
marked with greenish colour at one end. Young like the female. — Preys on ^ 
small birds, and is exceedingly active — Visits the south of England in Octo- ^ 
her, but breeds in the north and in Scotland. 
Ge>7. VII. GYRFALCO. (Hierqfalco of Cuvier.) Jer- | 
FALCON.— Notch of the bill obsolete. Tarsi reticulated. IfiS 
