247 

 THE BIRDS OF PREY OF THE PUNJAB. 



BY 



C. H. Donald, f.z.s. 



Part 1. 



In the last Volume of the Journal (Vol. XXV, p. 231) appeared 

 a paper on the Raptores (Birds of Prey) of the Punjab, in which I 

 divided up the various species into 8 types, to simplify identifi- 

 cation. While adhering to the nomenclature and the numbering 

 in the Fauna of British India, Vol. Ill, I changed the sequence 

 to suit my types. The paper has been very kindly received by 

 many of our members and has evidently met with a certain measure 

 of success, as I have been asked by several, to go into further detail 

 and describe each individual species on the lines of my original 

 paper. In that paper I pointed out that there was nothing, or 

 very little original matter, so far as keys and descriptions were 

 concerned, and the same remark may here be reiterated. 1 have 

 taken most of the descriptions and keys from the Fauna of British 

 India and from Hume's " Scrap Book of Rough Notes," as also 

 measurements. In some cases I have inserted them word for word, 

 and in others just enough has been taken to suit my purpose. 



It is not in any way implied that the keys and descriptions here 

 given are an absolutely sure guide, in every case. Individuals may 

 Occasionally be found which cannot be placed in their proper 

 species from these papers, but they will be abnormal specimens, and 

 in, perhaps, 9o per centum of cases the keys and descriptions 

 will suffice to place any Bird of Prey which occurs in the Punjab. 



The various changes in plumage which the Raptores undergo, 

 from time to time, makes it practically impossible to describe each 

 and every phase, and specimens might easily be found which even 

 defeat the descriptions given in the two above mentioned works, 

 good as they are. So far as colouration is concerned the descriptions 

 here given will be found considerably wanting in detail, as my 

 endeavour has been to merely give a fair idea of what the bird looks 

 like in general, and depend for identification almost entirely on 

 other characteristics which do not undergo changes. 



Out of 82 species of the Raptores to be found in India, Burma 

 and Ceylon, at least 56 are to be found in the Punjab, either as 

 residents or winter migrants, and it is more than possible that 

 others again, hitherto unrecorded, may occasionally find their way 

 into the Province. That some species have considerably increased 

 their range since Hume's " Rough Notes" made their appearance, is 

 very probable, for instance, the Large Spotted Eagle (Agmla 

 maculata), while the record of others is possibly due to error, and 



