354 7 ^ HiJI&ry ^ANIMAL S. 
This fpecies is not uncommon with us in Yorkfhire, and is eafily known from the 
other fmali birds, by it’s being always fmgle, and ufually avoided ; fometimes hunted, 
and followed by them with a great noife. The male is a little fmaller than the female' 
but the difference is inconfiderable: the neft is formed of dry ftalks of grafs and fea¬ 
thers : the eggs are five or fix ; they are of the fhape of a hen’s egg, and of a dufky 
browmfh-white, fpotted all over it in an irregular manner with purple. 
. Tb j s bas bardl Y been exadly diftinguifhed by any of the writers on birds. The La¬ 
nins fecundus of Aldrovand comes neareft it; but either it is not the fame, or the 
author has not been over accurate in the defcription. Ray and Willughby have de¬ 
scribed a female of it, which they call Lanius foemina fimilis fecundo Aldrovandi. 
Falco pedibus fubcceruleis , dorfo cinereo et ruffo 3 peel ore 
71 pallida fufeo. 
Toe blue-legged Falco, with a grey and brown back, 
and a pale , brown breajl. 
i his alfo is an elegant little hawk; it is about the fize of a lark, but is longer-head¬ 
ed : the head is fmali and flatted on the crown : the beak is large, in proportion to 
the fize of the bird ; it is broad at the bafe, and very fharp at the point s the cera or 
membrane covering it next the head is of a greyifh-blue ; the noftrils are fomewhat 
oblong, and ftand obliquely : the upper part of the beak is fomewhat gibbofe, and 
the hooked part at the extremity is formed of an elongation of the upper chap, falling 
over the extremity of the under one. 
The head is of a pale reddifh-brown : the fhoulders and upper part of the back are 
of a ferrugineous brown, and the lower part, toward the rump, is greyifh; it be¬ 
comes paler and paler, as it goes lower, and the rump itfelf is white : there are fome 
brown tranfverfe lines under the throat, and all the reft of the under part of the 
whole breaft and belly are of a whitifh-brown, the breaft fomewhat darker, and the 
belly paler. 
The feathers of the wings are only eleven in each ; they are all of them of a dufky 
colour, but the exterior ones have the half next the body white : the tail is moderately ’ 
long, and is of a deep brown, with a tinge of grey. Thefe are marks, by which 
this little hawk may be diftinguifhed with great readinefs and certainty from all the 
other kinds; but there is another yet more ftriking ; this is, that it has a large and 
more beautiful fpot of fnow-white on the fhoulders. The male and female in this 
fpecies differ confiderably, but this always remains in both, and is an efiential and 
obvious mark of the fpecies. 
It is a native of Italy, and of the South of France, but it is not known in England; 
I have been favoured with two or three fpecimens of it from Italy. Aldrovand febms 
to have meant this fpecies by his Lanius minor primus, but his defcription is imper¬ 
fect, Ray and Willughby had both met with it: Ray mentions fome variation in the 
colour of that which he faw, from that deferibed by Willughby; but this was only 
that Ray’s was a male, and Willughby’s a female ; they make a queftion whether it 
be the fame with that deferibed by Aldrovand, and have named it Lanius, an minor 
primus Aldrovandi. 
In the male, according to Mr Ray’s defcription, the head and neck had more of 
the reddifh-brown about them, and were of a deeper colour; and Willughby men¬ 
tions one fhot on the banks of the Rhine, the upper part of the head of which was 
perfectly reddifh, with very little brown, and the tail furrounded with a line of white. 
All this is no more than the variations of the male from the female of the fame 
fpecies, and that of the different feafons nearer to, and more diftant from, the time of 
moulting. 
This bird, though very fmali, is a very bold feeder, and flies very fwiftiy. It is 
often feen perched on ruined buildings, or on fhrubs, in lefs frequented places; and 
frequently 
