F A L C O. 
100 
parts of the wings, white ; tail with yellow and black 
bands ; emits a kind of laugh when looked at. Inhabits 
South America. 
119. Falco lanarius, the brown lanner. Cere yellow ; 
legs and bill blue ; body beneath with black longitudinal 
fp'ots. This fpecies breeds in Iceland ; and was faid to 
be very frequent in France. Mr. Pennant has given a 
description of one that was caught, while purfuing wild 
ducks, under the nets. It is known, fays Belon, by the 
bluenefs of its legs and feet, and by its fpots, which are 
along, and not acrofs, the feathers, as in the other hawks. 
His defeription is as follows : “ The lanner, or launer- 
falcon, condrudts its aerie on the tailed trees of the foreds, 
or on the mod elevated rocks. As its difpolitions are 
more Bexible than the common falcons, it is ufed tor 
every purpofe. It is lefs corpulent than the gentle fal¬ 
con, and its plumage is more beautiful than that of the 
facre, efpecially after moulting ; it is alfo diorter than the 
other falcons. The falconers prefer the lanner that has a 
large head and blue-bordered feet; it flies both on rivers 
and on the plains. It fubfids better than any other falcon 
upon coarfe defh. It is eafily didingitiflied, for its bill 
and feet are blue ; the feathers on the front mottled with 
black and white, with fpots dretching along the feathers, 
and not tranfverfe as in the falcon. When it fpreads its 
wings, the fpots feen from below appear different from 
thofe of the other birds of prey ; for they are fcattered 
and round like fmall pieces of money. Its neck is dioit 
and thick; as alfo its bill. The female is called lanner, 
and is much larger than the male which is named lanneret ; 
they are both fimilar in the colour of their plumage. It 
remains in the country the whole year, and no bird is 
fo faithful to its favourite haunts.” It inhabits Edrope, 
but is not common in England ; it is frequent in Iceland, 
the Feroe idands and Sweden, in the Urallian chain and 
other parts of Tartary, though not found in the ead and 
north of Siberia. It breeds in trees, and is fmaller than 
the buzzard. Its'name is derived from laniare, to tear ; 
becaufe this bird cruelly mangles the poultry and other 
victims of its rapine. 
120. Falco albicans, the white lanner. Cere and legs 
yellow ; body beneath whitifii, quill-feathers blackidi. 
Suppofed to be a variety of the preceding, and fo deferibed 
by Turton. There is another variety, with the two mid¬ 
dle tail-feathers grey, the red fpotted with white. 
121. Falco melanops, the dreaked falcon. Cere and 
legs yellow ; body black with white fpots ; beneath 
white ; head and neck white dreaked with black ; area 
of the eyes black ; quill feathers black with a white band 
in the middle. Fifteen inches and a half long. Inhabits 
Cayenne. This and the following are added by Dr. Tur¬ 
ton, from Smellie. 
122. Falco bidentatus, the notched falcon. Bill brown 
with two tooth-like proceffes ; body lead-colour; bread 
and belly reddifh ; vent white ; quill and tail-feathers 
barred with white. Fourteen inches long ; three bars on 
the tail, above pale brown, beneath white. Inhabits 
Cayenne. 
123. Falco cyanens, the St. Martin, or hen-harrier. 
Cere white ; legs tawny; body hoary blue ; a white arch 
over the eyes furrounding the chin. Seventeen inches 
long. Inhabits Europe and Africa. This bird is rather 
larger than the common crow, and its body is proportion¬ 
ally more delicate and flexible. Its kgs are long and 
llender : uhereas thofe of the falcon arerobud and fhort. 
The only analogy which fubfids between it and the falcon, 
is founded"in the habit of tearing with its bill all the fmall 
animals which it catches, and in not fwallowing them 
entire like the other large birds of prey. This fpecies 
is common in France, as well as Germany and England. 
Edwards fays, that the fpecinten from which his deferip¬ 
tion is given, was killed near London ; and he adds, that 
it was obferved to flutter about the foot of fome old trees, 
and fometimes to drike the trunks with its bill and 
claws; and that the reafon of the motion could not be 
perceived till after its death, when, the body being open, 
ed, there were found in its ftonisch twenty fmall lizards, 
torn or cut into two or three portions. 
124. Falco acolius, the acoli falcon. This African 
fpecies greatly refcmbles in fize, colour, and proportions, 
the hen-harrier, or Sr. Martin bird ; what fpecifical 1 y 
diftinguifhes the acoli is, the bafe of the bill is bright 
red, and-the belly driped. The acoli, like the Saint 
Martin, has a long flender body, long legs and tail : thefe 
characters are equally applicable to the fparrow-hawks ; 
but then the latter have not long wings like the acoli and 
the red of the falcons ; on the contrary, they have the 
; arted wing-quills of any of the rapacious kinds, except 
in ’ ’ the gos-hawks, which have frnall wings ; and are 
farther didinguifhed from the fparrow-ha'wks by having 
legs ftill (horter. The prevailing colour of the acoli is a 
pale blue-grey, which fpreads over’tlie head, neck, and 
mantle. The thighs are well covered with feathers, 
which hang down over the legs, though none grow upon 
the legs. All the under part of the body is whitifh, and 
prettily driped like the (inging falcon, from which it mud 
be carefully.diftinguidled : the acoli is not fo large ; its 
tail not taper ; it has only a (harp cry but no fong ; and, 
if the two fpecies are found in the fame quarter, they 
never intermix. This bird frequents ploughed lands in 
the colony of the Cape ; in the uncultivated country it 
keeps in fandy places ; where perched on a mole-hill, a 
clod of earth, or one of thofe mounds raifed by the ants, 
it fits watching for mice, moles, and young birds. This 
bird dies well, and fvviftly, but generally low. It is by 
no means diy ; it will even follow the hunter, hovering 
round him to feize upon the larks which rife before him, 
and thus may be eafily diot; “ at once the chafer and at 
once the prey.” 
The male and female are commonly feen together; they 
build in a thicket, and lay four eggs of a dirty white co¬ 
lour, and oval; (the eggs of the ringing falcon are almod 
round.) The acoli is mod frequently met with in Swart- 
land, Rooyefand, and at Four-and-tv.enty Rivers, in which 
didricts the finging-falcon is never found : in the interior 
the acoli is fometimes met with about the Swartkop and 
Sondag rivers, where the lands have been cleared and 
cultivated. In Swartland, the colonids call it uittcvalk , 
white falcon ; in other parts Ituwerk v anger, lark-catcher; 
Vaillant calls it acoli. The bill is blnifh, round the nof- 
trils bright red ; eyes and feet orange-colour ; nails and 
tip of the beak black. The female is a full-third larger 
than the male ; the bafe of her bill is of a fainter red ; 
fhe is about the dze of the male tinging falcon : and thle 
reader (hould be reminded that in companions of fize, it 
mud always be underdood that the male mud be compared 
with the male, the female with the female ; for there is 
generally a confiderable difference in fize between the 
male and female of the rapacious kinds. 
125. Falco Bengalenfis, the tchoug, or Bengal falcon. 
This Indian fpecies alfo refembles the Saint Martin, and 
naturally follows the African falcon, or acoli. Tchoug 
is the name it bears at Bengal, of which place it is a na¬ 
tive. It is about the fize of the St. Martin; the bill is 
entirely black, and very finning efpecially at the bafe, 
where dioot out fome diff hairs of the fame colour, which 
afterwards bend back and cover the nodrils ; fome hairs 
alfo grow round the lower mandible. The head, neck, 
and mantle, are very dark brown, approaching to black ; 
but it is lighter on the large fcapularies, and part of the 
wing-coverts; other parts of the wings are light grey, 
and fome are white and brown intermixed. On part of 
the hind head, the black, brown, and white, are very or¬ 
namentally mingled. The- large wing-quills are black; 
the middle ones light adt-colour, a mixture very agreeable 
to the eye. The rump and all the under parts of the 
body, including the thighs and under tail-coverts, are of 
the pured white. The tail-quills are all of equal length, 
and of a light grey, a little inclining to red ; the two 
middle ones have each a brown crelcent-diaped fpot. The 
