The BERIGORA (_Jeracidea Berigora_) is the most remarkable among the
many birds of prey inhabiting New Holland, and constitutes, as it were,
a connecting link between the Noble Falcons and the next group. The
Berigora possesses the general shape and beak of the Falcons already
described, but is distinguished from them by the inferior strength of
its wings, in which the third quill is longer than the rest, as well as
by the length and slender formation of the tarsi, and toes furnished
with claws of no great strength. The length of the male is about sixteen
inches, the female is somewhat larger, but exactly resembles her mate
in the colour of her plumage. The feathers upon the top of the head are
reddish brown, with fine black streaks upon the shafts; the middle of the
back is reddish brown, the shoulders, wing-covers, and tail-feathers are
brown, edged and spotted with a reddish shade; the throat, breast, middle
of the belly, and lower wing-covers are pale fawn colour, with a delicate
brown line passing along each side of the shaft; the feathers that cover
the sides are reddish brown, surrounded by a border of yellowish-white
spots; the hose are brown, spotted with red; the secondary quills are
blackish brown, marked upon the inner web with large fawn-coloured
patches. The cere and eye-rings are light blue, the beak lead colour at
its base and black at the tip; the eyes are of very deep brown.
The Berigora is met with throughout the whole of Van Diemen's Land and
New South Wales, where it lives in large flocks, except during the period
of incubation, when each pair dwells apart from the rest. The food of
this species consists principally of reptiles and insects, but it will
also devour small birds and quadrupeds, and by no means despises carrion.
The settlers regard these birds with great disfavour, on account of the
number of young Chickens they manage to abstract from the farmyards, and
seem entirely to overlook the many and great services they render by the
destruction of enormous numbers of insects and caterpillars. The eyrie
is built near the summit of the highest gum-trees, and the eggs, which
are laid about October and November, differ so considerably in their
hues that two of a brood are seldom alike; various shades of whitish
fawn-colour, spotted with pale reddish brown, usually predominate.
* * * * *
The KESTRELS (_Tinnunculus_) form a group that stands next in order to
the True Falcons, from which they are distinguished by the inferiority
of their destructive powers. They all resemble their more highly gifted
brethren in their general form, as well as in the structure of the
beak, wings, and tail, but are recognisable by their lax and streaming
plumage, the comparative weakness of the quills that form the wings, the
length of the tail, their strong and short-toed feet, and, lastly, by the
difference in the colour of their feathers, which varies with the sex.