BRITISH BIRDS. 
30 
ftrength, or blunt its vivacity. It boldly attacks 
the large ft of the feathered race; the Stork, the 
Heron, and the Crane are eafy victims : It kills 
hares by darting dire&ly upon them. The female, 
as in all other birds of prey, is much larger and 
itronger than the male, which is ufed in falconry 
only to catch the Kite, the Heron, and the Crow. 
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THE GENTIL-FALCON. 
(Fa/co Gentilisy Lin.) 
This bird is fomewhat larger than the Gofhawk: 
Its bill is lead colour ; cere and irides yellow ; the 
head and back part of the neck are rufty ftreaked 
with black ; the back and wings are brown ; fca- 
pulars tipped with rufty ; the quills dufky ; the 
outer webs barred with black ; the lower part of 
the inner webs marked with white ; the tail is long, 
and marked with alternate bars of black and afh 
colour, and tipped with white ; the legs are yel- 
low, and the claws black ; the wings do not ex- 
tend farther than half the length of the tail. 
Naturalifts have enumerated a great variety of 
Falcons : and in order to fwell the lift, they have 
introduced the fame bird at different periods of its 
life ; and have, not unfrequently, fubftituted acci- 
dental differences of climate as conftituting perma- 
nent varieties ; fo that, as Buffon obferves with his 
nfual acutenefs, one would be apt to imagine that 
