The Hijlory ^ANIMALS, 3^1 
The males and females in many of the birds of prey differ, in fome refpeds, from 
one another ; all the variation in thefe is, that in the female the tail is fomewhat dif¬ 
ferent in colour: the twelve long feathers which compofe it.are of a ferrugineous co¬ 
lour, but each is terminated by a large black fpot at the extremity, and each has alfo 
nine or ten tranfverfe fpots of the fame black colour. 
This fpecies is frequent in many parts of Europe, but lefs fo in England than e!fe~ 
where. It does not live in forefts, as moft of the others, but, like the owl, is fond 
of ruined buildings, and fometimes builds in them, but more frequently in the high 
ffony cliffs on the fea-coafts. It lays four roundifh eggs of a beautiful white, fpotted 
with purple. It is a very bold bird, confidering it’s fize 5 there is fcarce any fowl that 
efcapes it. Moft of the writers on birds have defcribed it. Gefner calls it Tinnun- 
cuius accipiter j Aldrovand, Tinnuneulus live Cenchris ; Willughby and Ray, Tin- 
nunculus. 
Falco cera viridi , pedibus flavis , pe&ore alho undulato , 
cauda fujca fafciata . 
The yellow-legged Falco , with a white , undulated hreajl , 
and a fafdated brown tail . 
This is about the bignefs of a pigeon, but it is confiderably longer-bodied, in pro¬ 
portion to it’s thicknefs: it’s wings are long, and, when expanded, meafure to twice 
the length of the body and tail: the tail is fhort, but very ftrong; it is broad and 
thick at the bafe, very Iharp at the point, and confiderably hooked; it is of a bluifti 
colour, except at the point, where it is black : the cera or membrane covering it’s 
bafe is of a greenifh tinge, and in this the bird is very lingular, it’s legs being yellow, 
whereas, in almoft all the others, the legs and the cera are of the fame colour; there 
is, indeed, fome faint yellownefs among the green in this membrane, but the green is 
evidently the prevailing colour^ and it has on each fide an appendage under the noftriis, 
of an angulated figure; the noftriis are of an oblong figure; the palate is blue; the 
tongue is large, thick, and blackilh, and the tip of it is fomewhat bifid: the eyes are 
moderately large, and their iris is yellow and bright 5 they are, as it were, funk in 
the head, or defended by prominent eye-brows. 
The head is final!, and fomewhat flatted $ it is of a brown colour on the upper 
part, only that over the eyes, and toward the hinder part, there is fome whitenefs, and 
the bottoms of all the feathers on the top, and on the hinder part of the head, are 
white: the back, the fides, and the wings are of the fame duiky brown colour, ex¬ 
cept that fome of the covering-feathers of the wings, which are neareft the back, are 
variegated with fpots of white ; fometimes alfo there is a tinge of greyifh all over the 
back, and, in fome particular birds, the grey is the prevailing colour, but this is lefs 
common. As the whole upper part of the bird is of this fimple browh colour, the 
whole under part, the throat, breaft, belly, and covering-feathers of the under part 
of the wings, are variegated with white and brown : there run alternate, undulated, 
tranfverfe lines of white and a ferrugineous brown, fo deep, that it in fome places ap¬ 
proaches to black all over the breaft, throat, and belly j the white lines are much 
broader than the brown ones, fo that the white feems the ground colour : the fea¬ 
thers, immediately under the bafe of the belly, and at it’s angles, are wholly white, 
except that in their middle, and that principally toward the extremity, they have fome 
faint tinge of brown* 
The wings, though they expand to a confiderable breadth, yet, when clofed, do 
not reach farther than to the middle of the tail: their long feathers are twenty-four in 
each, and they are variegated, on the lower fide toward the middle rib, with feveral 
tranfverfe lines of brown. 
The tail is about (even inches long ; it is compofed of twelve feathers, and each 
of thefe is variegated with five or fix bands of black, and their tips are whitifh. 
