458 M. Sundevall on the Birds of Calcutta. 



appearance were like those of the former, but the tail appeared 

 longer. 



Falco buteo ? an F. asiaiicus, Lath. ? Near Sucsagor, above 

 Calcutta, I twice saw (on March 22 and 23) a hawk which I am 

 disposed to regard as our common Buzzard, which it resembled 

 in size, colour, flight, and all its actions. The head was pale, 

 with a dark band through the eyes. On one occasion it settled 

 on a stone twenty-five ells from me, just as one of my gun-bar- 

 rels, loaded with large shot, had been fired off. In the other 

 barrel there was only sparrow-shot, so that I despaired of hitting 

 it, and aiming straight at the bird, I fired and got nothing. 



In the lower parts of the river, in the district of the Sunder- 

 bunds, when on my homeward voyage in May, I three times saw 

 a species of bird flying at some distance, which could be nothing 

 but a large bird of prey. It seemed to be little less than an 

 eagle, dark-coloured, beneath white, with pointed wings, and 

 rather smaller anteriorly than is usual with raptorial birds. The 

 flight was like that of an eagle. Could it possibly be allied to 

 Falco leucopsis, Bechst. ? 



I once saw a hawk fly past which I thought I recognised as a 

 full-grown F. palumbarius, but I cannot assert it positively. 

 These, and many other species of birds which follow, are only 

 enumerated to draw attention to them. 



I often heard Europeans speak of Eagles, which would seem 

 not to be rare in this country, and as they asserted of their own 

 knowledge, quite distinct from Vultures. Possibly they alluded 

 to Vultur pondicerianus, or perhaps the large unknown bird of 

 prey just mentioned. It should be observed that Ciconia argala 

 is often called Eagle by the English, and the Hindoos who know 

 English believe this bird to be the Eagle of the Europeans. 



64. Vultur bengalensis, Gm. — Bengal Vulture, Lath. Syn.i. p. 19. 

 t. 1 (fig. mala, eademque in Lath. Gen. Hist.). Vultur leucoce- 

 phalus/3, Lath. Syst. i. p. 3 (nee. synon. Hasselq.). Chaugoun, Le- 

 vaill. Afr. pi. 11 (e Bengalia ; fig. mala, ut ibidem plerseque avium 

 rapacium). (V. indicus pullus, Temm.) 



Nigro-fuscus, subtus rhaehidibus albis striolatus, supra immacu- 

 latus, dorso posteriore albo. Collare lanatum, album, colli infimi. 

 Area pectoralis atra. Nares transversa?, lineares. <$ adultus (Cal- 

 cutta, Febr.). Caput et collum fuscescentia, subnuda, sparse pilosa. 

 Caput superne fuscescenti pilosum. Occiput et nucha densius albido- 

 lanata. Interscapulium et alse fere pure nigra immaculata. Dorsum 

 posterius ab alis tectum, pure album. Remiges cubitales extus cine- 

 rascentes. Alse tectrices inferiores (nee marginales) albse. Cauda 

 nigra. Gastrseum nigro-fuscum, rhaehidibus tenuibus, definite albis. 

 Tibia intus alba. Area pectoralis magna, triangularis, aterrima, im- 

 maculata, brevissime et densissime plumata ; lateribus posticeque 



