LITTLE FALCON. 
Dr. Morgan has given me the following note : “ Found in small numbers 
over the southern portion of South Australia. I have not seen them north 
of Port Augusta : they are still to be seen within a few miles of Adelaide, and 
even occasionally come into the city itself. I have on several occasions seen 
one at the golf-links 7 miles from Adelaide, once beating about the eaves of 
the golf-house searching for sparrows. They live chiefly upon small birds 
such as sparrows and starlings, which they seize upon the wing. I once at 
the Eiiver Fenniss, near Lake Alexandrina, saw one attack a white-fronted 
Heron : the Heron made off, uttering harsh screams and evidently much 
alarmed, but the Falcon did not do it much harm. I have never found 
a nest.” 
Mr. Tom Carter has contributed this note : “ The Little Falcon is much 
more numerous than the Black-cheeked, but cannot be called a common 
species. I have observed them from the mid-west to the extreme south- 
west. In the wet year of 1900 they were constantly seen about the North 
West Cape. They are occasionally seen about Broome Hill, and when 
visiting Lake Muir in 1911 I shot one that had just caught an E'pthianura 
albifrons.^^ 
In the record of his trip into the Interior of Australia, Capt. S. A. White 
{Trans. Boy. Soc. S.A., Vol. 38, p. 425, 1914) writes : “ These swift-flying 
birds were fairly numerous in comparison to other members of the hawk tribe. 
A pair were nearly always found at the waters, where they preyed upon small 
parrots and finches. It is a very bold and daring bird.” 
North, in the Austr. Mus. Spec. Cat., No. 1, has many good notes in 
connection with this bird, and the following will bear quotation : “ Mr. K. H. 
Bennett, at Mossgiel, New South Wales, wrote— ‘ Falco lunulatus is frequently 
met with in this locahty, although it is by no means plentiful. Its prey 
consists chiefly of small birds such as Quail, etc., to which is added some of the 
larger insects, like the mantis and grasshopper. In habit it is bold in the 
extreme. One morning whilst at breakfast I observed one of these birds fly 
several times past the verandah, and now and again make a dash at^ some 
creepers with which it was covered. On going out I found a young Swallow, 
just able to fly, had either fallen out, or left a nest of these birds under the 
verandah and had fluttered into the creepers, and this attracted the Falcon. 
I caught the young Swallow with the intention of placing it in the nest, and 
whilst doing so held it by the legs, which caused it to flutter, when without 
any hesitation the Falcon darted into the verandah and struck the swallow in 
my hand, one claw penetrating my thumb, and clutched the young bird. 
Incredible as it may appear, the Falcon commenced eating the Swallow 
whilst perched on my hand, although my mother and two of my sisters were 
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