GEEY FALCON. 
with dark pear-shaped marks, the dark portion of the feather becoming more 
extensive on the feathers on the sides of the neck ; a narrow black ring encircles 
the eye which spreads out below on to the face ; base of fore-head and ear-coverts 
dull white streaked with brown ; throat and entire under-surface, including the 
under tail-coverts, axillaries and under wing-coverts, with dark shaft-streaks to 
the feathers, which widen out on the sides of the body and under wing-coverts, 
taking the form of bars on the greater series of the latter ; a huffy tinge pervades the 
under-surface, especially on the sides of the body. Bill, tip of lower and distal 
half of upper mandible leaden brown, remainder blue-grey ; eyes brown ; eye 
space yellow ; feet and tarsus bright yellow. Total length 420 mm. ; cuhnen 17, 
wing 286, tail 143, tarsus 41. Figured. Collected on Parry’s Creek, North-west 
Australia, on the 5th of December, 1908, by Mr. J. P. Rogers. 
Younger birds have the shafts of the feathers of the under-surface much wider and 
the white under tail-coverts crossed with one or two bars. Wing 294, cuhnen 17, 
tarsus 44. A female collected at Broken Hill, New South Wales, and given me 
by Dr. W. MacgilUvray. 
Nest. Large and loosely built of sticks and lined with fine bark. Inside measurements 
8 inches by 6 deep. 
Eggs. Clutch, two to four. Buff coloured, and covered with small spots of rusty-red or 
blotches of the same colour. Axis 49-53 mm. ; diameter 36-38, 
Breeding-season. July to October. 
Until this bird was forwarded by Gilbert to Gould it had not previously 
been observed by any explorer as far as I have traced. Thus it is another 
of the fine Australian Falconiformes that stands to the credit of Gould. In 
connection with this group Gould named sixteen species and eleven of these 
names are now in use for separable forms. In his “ Handbook ” Gould quoted 
his account given in his folio work : “Of this rare and beautiful Falcon 
T have seen only four examples. The specimen . . . was presented to 
Mr. Gilbert by Mr. L. Burgess, who stated that he had killed it over the 
mountains, about sixty miles from Swan River : subsequently it was 
obtained by Mr. Gilbert himself in the vicinity of Moore’s River in Western 
Australia ; and my friend Captain Sturt had the good fortune to secure a 
male and a female during his late adventurous journey into the interior of 
South Australia. ‘ They were shot at the Depot in May, 1845: they had 
been soaring very high, but at length descended to the trees on the creek, 
and coming within range were shot.’ 
“ The acquisition of the Falco hypoleucus is highly interesting, as adding 
another species to the true or typical Falcons and as affording another proof 
of the beautiful analogies which exist between certain groups of the southern 
and northern hemispheres — this bird being as clearly a representative of the 
Jerfalcon of Europe as the Falco melanogenys is of the Peregrine and the 
Falco frontatus of the Hobby,” but corrected this last statement : “ When 
comparing this species with the Falcons of the northern hemisphere, 
F. candicans, F. islandicus, and F. gyrfalco, I have omitted to mention that. 
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