The Hijlory of A N I ,M A L S. 
345 
Falco pedibus flavis , corpore albo-flavo var legato. 
The yellow-legged Falco , with a white body varie¬ 
gated with yellow. 
This is one of the moft lingular and beautiful birds of the Falcon-kind ; it is of the 
lize of a moderately-grown pullet: it’s head is fmall, narrow toward the beak, broad¬ 
er behind, and flatted on the crown : the beak is fhort, but very robuft ; it is broad at 
the bafe, very much hooked, and terminated by a very fharp point: it is of an ex- 
treamly pale colour, a whitifh, with a caft of bluifh and of yellow, except that at the 
point it is black: the back, and the bread:, and belly alfo alfo are of a whitifh colour, 
but they are all over fpotted with a pale and very faint yellow : the tail is compofed 
of twelve large feathers; they are white, and are fpotted with the fame pale yellow 
with the body; but the wings, which are very long, and reach nearly to the extre- 
mity of the tail, when clofed, are of a perfect beautiful white, without the lead: ap¬ 
pearance of any fpot at all. 
The legs are moderately long, and very robuft ; they are of a flrong and deep yel¬ 
low, and the toes are long, and the claws very long and flrong, and black: the cera 
or membrane covering the bafe of the beak is yellow, and the noftrils are oblong and 
tranfverfe: the iris of the eye alfo is yellow, and the look is very bold and piercing. 
This is a native of Italy, and is a very bold and mifchievous bird : it lives princi¬ 
pally in thick woods, where it feeds on young hares, rabbets, and other the fmaller 
quadrupeds, as well as on birds of all kinds; it fometimes takes up it’s habitation near 
the villages, and is then very troublefome to the inhabitants, fparing hardly any thing 
that is incapable of defending itfelf. Aldrovand, Jonfton, Willughby, and others 
have defcribed it under the name of Falco albus. 
Falco pedibus flavo-virefcentibus, dorfo nigrefcente. 
The black Falco , with yellowifh-green legs. felCOUf 
This is a fmaller fpecies than many of the former, but it is as bold and defperate 
as any of them ; it is about the fize of a large tame pigeon : the head is fmall and flat¬ 
ted $ the beak is broad at the bafe, moderately hooked, and very (harp at the point, 
and the upper part of it is much longer than the under : the cera or membrane co¬ 
vering it's bafe is of a mixt colour of yellow and green, which fhew themfelves vari- 
oufly in different lights, but the beak itfelf is bluifli. 
The head is of a deep iron grey, and the back is almoft black, but the edges of 
many of the feathers have a circular verge of a ferrugineous tinge round th^ir extremities. 
The tail is compofed of twelve large feathers, they are almoft black, and a little 
fpotted, except the two middle ones ; and the wings are alfo black, only that on that 
part neareft the body the feathers have fome of them a number of ferrugineous 
fpots: the breaft is beautifully variegated with black and white fpots; and on the fldes 
of the head, as alfo toward the upper part of the breaft, there are fome yeliowifh fea¬ 
thers, which add very Angularly to the variegations. 
The eyes are large and black, and have a remarkably bold and fierce look ; the 
bird itfelf has, indeed, in it’s whole appearance, a peculiar boldnefs of afpecfc; it flands 
more firm and ereft than any other fpecies, and is ufually feen on the topmoft bough 
of fome tall tree, taking a furvey of every thing about it, and ready to drop on, or 
rife to it’s prey. 
This is a native of Germany, but it is lefs frequent than moft of the other fpecies; 
it is a very bold bird in it’s manner of feeding. Moft of the ornithologifts have de¬ 
fcribed it ; Ray and Willughby call it Litho-falco, Dendro-falco, feu Falco Lapida- 
4 T rius 
