History of British animals - University of Guam Marine Laboratory

50 BIRDS. ACCIPITRES. Falco.Length 12, breadth 27 inches; weight 7 ounces. Bill blue; irides'hazel ;margin of the eye, cere, and/legs, yellow. The plumage, above, is bluish-black,the margins of the feathers paler; below, white, with longitudinal black spots.Above each eye a white line ; hind-head with two yellow spots. Quills (thefirst of which is almost equal hi length to the third), dusky black ; the innerwebs with oval transverse reddish spots. Rump, thighs, and vent, paleorange. Tail with brownish bars, the tips white ; two middle feathers entirelyof a deep dove colour. In the female the plumage has a reddish tinge.Nest placed on trees, rocks, or heath. Eggs 3 or 4. Young lighter coloured ;feathers above bordered with yellowish red, especially the crown ; below,tinged yellowish-red, with longitudinal brown spots The hobby pursueslarks, and is occasionally used in hunting with the net, to frighten the birdsand prevent them from taking wing. Departs in October.b. Destitute of mustaches. Inner xcebs of the first and secondquillsabbreviated towards the extremity ; outer webof the second abbreviated. Tarsi reticulated.13. F. Tinnuncidus. Kestrel, Stannel, or Wind-Hover. —Middle toe shorter than the tarsus.Will. Orn. 50. Sibb. Scot. 15. Penn. Brit. Zool. i. 195. Tern. Orn. i.29.— W, Cudyll coch— Stationary and common.Length 14, breadth 27 inches; weight CJ ounces. Bill blue; cere and feetyellow. Back and wing-covers red, with black spots ; head and rump grey.A black streak descends from the gape. Under parts pale rust colour, spottedand barred with black ;thighs and vent plain. Quills 22, dusky, spottedwith white. Tail grey, with a broad black bar near the end; feathers 12,slightly arched, with the two middle ones incumbent, and nearly half aninch longer than the rest. Wings, when closed, reach about three-fourths ofthe length of the tail. Oil-bag very small, with a tuft of yellowish feathers,dark at the base. Palate bluish, with two rows of recurved teeth. Vermiformappendages |th of an inch, fixed. A small caecum about gths. Female withthe plumage, above, the same as the back ; beneath paler, with indistinct spotsand streaks. Tail with transverse dusky bars, and a broad one at the end.Nest placed in hollows of trees, rocks, or ruins. Eggs 4, dirty white, withred blotches. Young like the female—Feeds on mice and beetles and ;maybe seen in the act of seeking for its prey, hovering stationary, at some height,in the air, with its head to windward.14. F. j3?salon. Merlin.— Middle toe as long as the tarsus.Will. Orn. 50. Penn. Brit. Zool. i. 200.— Merlin or Stone-Falcon, Mont.Orn. Diet. Suppt. Tern. Orn. i. 27— W, Corwalch—N ear woods Notcommon.Length 12, breadth 25 inches; weight 5j ounces. Bill blue; cere, marginof the eye and feet lemon-yellow. Plumage, above, bluish-grey, with a longitudinalblack spot on each feather ; beneath, the throat is white, and the remainderyellowish-white, with oblong dusky spots pointing downwards.Quills reaching two-thirds of the tail ; the first nearly equal to the fourth.Tail-feathers with bands, and an entire dark broad one tipt with white at theend. In the female, the plumage is tinged with brown, and the spots beloware more numerous. Nest in trees or on the ground. Eggs 5 or C; white,marked with greenish colour at one end. Young like the female Preys onsmall birds, and is exceedingly active—Visits the south of England in October,but breeds in the north and in Scotland.Gen. VII. GYRFALCO. (Hierofalco of Cuvier.) Jerfalcon.—Notch of the bill obsolete. Tarsi reticulated.