The Hijlory of ANIMALS. 
Falco dorfo fubcceruleo y peElore flavefcente. 
The blue-backed Falco , with a yellow breafl » 
This is an extreamly beautiful bird j the fize is that of a rook, and the colours are 
very bright and beautiful: the head is fmall and flat at the top ; the colour is a pale 
yellow, with an admixture of bluifh in fome parts, toward the edges of the feathers: 
the eyes are large and black; the beak is very robuft, fliort, and blue; it’s point is 
hooked and very {harp; the back is of a deep and very beautiful iron grey, with a 
fine tinge of blue, fo that in fome lights it appears wholly blue 5 there are fome black 
tranfverfe lines on it, and fome few yellowifli ones: the breafl: and belly are yellowifh, 
and have a multitude of ferrugineous, irregular fpots, and the extremities of the 
wings are ornamented with a number of beautiful, rounds white fpots, in form of 
eyes. 
* 
The wings are long, and the tail alfo is long: the legs are fhort, and not very ro- 
buft ; they are blue, and quite naked j the claws are very long, (harp, and black. 
This is a native of Italy, and fome other of the warmer parts of Europe. Mod of 
the writers on birds have confounded it with the French or common lannar; but fome 
of them have defcribed the bird, which they call by that name, in fuch a manner, as 
to fhew that they have meant this fpecies by their accounts, and not that intended by 
the authors from whom they have borrowed the name. It is a very bold bird, and 
is very troublefome about the houfes of people who breed up the domeftic fowls. 
Falco rojlro nigro pedibus luteis , cor pore fupra fufco^fubtus 
albo-cinereo , maculis tranfverfis . 
The yellow-legged Falco , with a black beak , and with a 
brown back , and a fpotted breajl . 
This is a large and very bold bird; it is indeed the largefl: of all the birds of this 
genus : it’s- fize is that of a common dunghil cock : the head is fmall, flatted on the top, 
and grey in colour: the beak is fhort, but it is extreamly thick and flrong, and is 
fharp, and very much hooked at the point: the eyes are large, and very fierce and 
piercing; the iris is bluifh, the pupil black. 
The back is of a brownifh colour, though with a tinge of grey among it : the 
breafl: and belly are of a very pale grey, approaching to white, but variegated with 
tranfverfe fpots of brown : the feathers of the tail and wings are of a greyifh-white, 
but they are ornamented with fpots of a deep black, of a heart-like fhape, and in 
fome meafure refembling the eyes in a peacock’s tail: The largefl of the ^ying-feathers 
are terminated by one of thefe black fpots bigger than the others, and edged with a 
verge of white: the tail is long, and the wings alfo are very long; when expanded, 
they reach to a vaft breadth, and, when clofed, they come very nearly to the tip of the 
tail: the throat is of a pure and elegant white, variegated with brown fpots : the tail 
has fome tranfverfe black marks on it: the legs are yellow j they are very thick and 
flrong, and the claws are very (harp and flrong. 
The fize of this bird of prey makes it a match for any thing of the winged kind, 
and it is bold and fierce to a furprifing degree; it will feize herons, and the larger 
birds of all kinds. 
It is a native of fome of the northern parts of Europe *, mod of the writers on 
birds have defcribed it. Rudbeck calls it Falco perigrinus albo-cinereus viridis, pedibus 
flavis; Willughby, Ray, and others, Gyrfalco. We call it the Gyrfalcon, or the Jer~ 
falcon, and the male the Jerkin. The term Gyrfalco is of German origin, and is 
given it on account of it’s fize and boldnefs, Gyr being the German name of the 
vulture. 
falcon. 
Falcg 
