. A history of British birds . ey measures about twenty-two inches in beak is black, the cere blue, the irides yellow ; thetop of the head and nape of the nfeck whitish, streaked withdark brown, the feathers elongated. The upper surface ofthe body and wings dark brown, often with a purple gloss ;the ends of the primaries black; the upper surface of thetail waved with two shades of brown ; the chin and throatwhite; across the upper part of the breast a light brownband. The belly, thighs, and under tail-coverts, white ;under surface of the wing white at the axilla, brown on theouter e
. A history of British birds . ey measures about twenty-two inches in beak is black, the cere blue, the irides yellow ; thetop of the head and nape of the nfeck whitish, streaked withdark brown, the feathers elongated. The upper surface ofthe body and wings dark brown, often with a purple gloss ;the ends of the primaries black; the upper surface of thetail waved with two shades of brown ; the chin and throatwhite; across the upper part of the breast a light brownband. The belly, thighs, and under tail-coverts, white ;under surface of the wing white at the axilla, brown on theouter edge; under surface of the primaries dark brown, theshafts white; under surface of the tail barred with greyish-brown on a white ground : the legs and toes blue ; the toespartly reticulated, but with a few broad scales near the end,their under surface covered with short, sharp spines: clawslong, all of nearly uniform length, and solid,—that is, notgrooved underneath ; their colour black. 36 FALCONIDyE. AVCIPITRES. Falco candicans, J. F. Gmeliu*.THE GREENLAND FALCON. Falco [lyrfalco (in part)f. Falco, Linnceus+.—Beak short, curved from its base; on each cutting edgeof the xipper mandible a strong projecting tooth. Legs robust ; tarsi short :toes long, strong, armed with curved and sharp claws. Wings long and pointed ;the first and third quill-feathers of equal length, the second quill-feather thelongest. No question in ornithology perhaps has been so much dis- * Syst. Nat. i. p. 275 (1788), f Not Falco yyrfalco, Linna;us. t Syst, Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 124 (17tJ0), GREENLAND FALCON. 37 cussed as that which relates to the large Falcons inhabitingthe northern parts of the globe. By the majority of naturaliststhey have been regarded as forming a single species, but oflate years there has been a growing tendency to recognizefirst two and then three distinct species or races—accordingas the idea of what constitutes a species or a race is enter-tained by the individual w
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Keywords: ., bookauthorsaun, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectbirds
