1006 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVI. 



touching each other behind, descends very slowly 

 at first, extending its legs as it approaches the ground 

 and when within a few feet of it, the wings suddenly 

 close into the body and the bird literally drops the 

 last few feet. 



Though they undoubtedly breed in the Punjab, I 

 know of no record of their nest having been taken. 

 Major Betham records having taken 3 nests near 

 Poona (Journal of the Bombay Natural History 

 Society, Vol. XIV., p. 397, and Vol. XV, page 710). 



They appear to breed in the winter months, laying 

 3 or 4 eggs " usually densely blotched with brownish- 

 red and measuring 1'53 by 1'21." 



If they do breed in the Punjab, the season, I think, 

 must be in tlie spring or summer, as during the 

 winter they are not often to be met with in couples, 

 whereas I have seen a pair together, on two or three 

 occasions in May and June, in the Kangra District, 

 not far from Palumpur, among the tea plantations. 



Type G. 



This chapter deals with a Type which comprises 9 genera of the Rapto- 

 res, in all 14 species. The main characteristic of this Type is a tarsus 

 feathered in front for half its length or less and naked behind ; No pro- 

 minent tooth on the cutting edge of the upper mandible. 



Before going further it may be as well to describe, for the novice, the 

 difference between a " festoon " and a " tooth " as most birds of prey have 

 either the one or the other. A " festoon " is a downward curving of the 

 cutting edge of the upper mandible which is gradual and rounded, whereas 

 a " tooth " is a sudden sharp pointed projection of the same, a little 

 behind the point of the beak. The following rough diagram of each will 

 make it clear ; — 



Festoon i/Q IZZ Toot A 



It must be remembered that some falcons have both, tooth and festoon, 

 but the reader need not worry about the latter at all and it is only here 

 mentioned so that there need be no confusion between them. 



The next chapter will deal with birds which all have toothed mandibles, 

 whereas none or those in the present Type are so adorned, but those in 

 the next Type {H), resemble those in this Type (G), in having their tarsi 

 similarly feathered, so it is very important to state here the factor which 

 differentiates them, viz .-—no tooth on cutting edge of upper mandible. 

 For instance, if the examination of the legs shows that the tarsus is only 

 feathered at the top, and for less than half its length, thus consigning the 

 specimen to this Type, or the next, the only other point to look at is the 

 beak. If toothed the bird belongs to the next Type, if merely festooned, 



then to this. 



This Type deals not only with the largest number of species, but con- 

 tains birds of all sizes from among the biggest to very nearly the smallest 

 of the birds of prey, but one and all have their tarsi naked for more than 

 half its length and no tooth on upper mandible. 



