brown; the cerb greenish-yellow; the angles of the month yellow.
| M W bright-yellow.3i The-general' colour a b oÄ d s
chocolateibrown, the feathers being whitish-gray at base; on the
head, and neck above, they are blackish, margined with rifous,
pure white towards the bases and grayish at the bottom, the whites
colour showlng%:selfi' on the top and sides of the- neck,- and being
much purer^’on* the nucha. The back and rumj^*are the säine,
bubthe feathers larger, and lighter'coloured* less margined with
rufous; more Widely grayish at base, andTearingmächlfour. regular
spots of white ih’ the middle of their length, which'are not 'seen
unless When the feathers are turned aside. The whole body
beneath is white,, each feather, including t®fe tewer; wng-cdve^ts
and femorals, marked with a long, dusky medial stripe, broader
and oblanceoläte On the breast and flanks, (seme of thedeathbrs of
which have also a blackish band across the middle,) th e throat,
and under wing-coVerts; the long feathers of the flanks;'(erelong
axillary feathers) are white banded with blackish; the vent and*
fewer thihcoverts pure whitef the wings are nine inched long; and
When folded, hardly reach to the secojid bar of the tail from the
base; the smaller wing-coverts and scapulars, are like >thfe 'hick,
the quills bfowtr above,* (lighter-on the shaft) and silvery-gray
beneath, regularly crossed: by blackish bands, less -conspicuous
above ; the space between the bands is white on the inner van§s
at b a se ; some of the secondaries and tertials are tipped and edged
with rusty, arfd have more- and more of white as they approach
Äe Ä d y ; sb that those nearest may« in fact be described as
white banded with blackish. The first primary is ytery-short*
more so than the secondaries; the second is equal to the sixth, the
third to the fifth, these two last mentioned being hardly shorter
than the fourth, which, as in all Jhtures, is longest: - The tail is
full eight inches long, reaching five beyond the wings ;v its colour
is ashy-brown, much paler beneath, tipped with whitish, and
crossed by four eqiddiataot blackish bands, nearly one inch in
breadth; the tail-coverf'Sj at their very-;ba(so^r,e;.whitish; the lateral
feathers are lighter, and-with some white or^ the inner webs.
The legs and feet $re. yellow? jslendqr, tand >*elongated, but still
do not reach, when, extended, to the tip of the tail; the tarsus,
feathered in front for , a short space, fs ;^wq! and three-squarter
inches long; ,-as- in other Jlstures, the middle dsbe,ys.v much the
longest, and the inner, without the nail* is Shorter than the outer,
but taken with‘its much longer nail, is longer. The talons are
black, and extremely sharp* the inner and the hind ones subequal,
and much the largest, while the outer is ,the ;most delicate.
The Female is larger, and measures two inches more in length,
but in plumage is perfectly similar to. the male..- As the male we
have described and figured, is evidently a young bird, it*is very
probable, that the adult, after undergoing the changes usual in
this group, .obtains a much darker and more uniform plumage,
ahpye, and .is beneath lineated transversely with reddish. That
in this supposed plumage, the bird has pot yet been found, is no
reason to doubt its existence* as the; species is comparatively rare.
Even of the common Falco fuscus, though constantly receiving
numerous specimens of the young, we have only been able to
procure a single one in adult plumage, during a period of four-
years* it
We- regret that this is tall that is in our. power to ofier of the
history of this« species, which, as .will be seen from the description,
possesses iman eminent degree,the characters of the group. From
the circumstance of its being found here in autumn and winter,
we are led to infer, that it comes ftp from the North. >