38 Mr. E. Blyth on the Ornithology of the neighbourhood of 



as well as his no. 82, and in second plumage it is his Kumpa-maur 

 Eagle, no. 72. Pandion haliaetus is also very common in the Soon- 

 derbuns, being of course the Bengal Osprey of Latham, but differing 

 in no respect from the European species. For Haliaetus pondice- 

 rianus must now be read Haliastur indus. 



No. 22. The Elanus melanopterus of Bengal has always its outer- 

 most tail-feather from § to \ inch shorter than the rest, which is the 

 sole character upon which the Prince of Canino founded his American 

 E. dispar ; the adult is likewise always distinguished by a slaty-black 

 spot at the extremity of the white on the under surface of the wing, 

 and immediately impending the base of the first primaries. Does 

 this correspond to the oval spot of black mentioned as occurring in 

 Gould's Australian E. notatus * ? 



Respecting the Indian Vultures, information concerning which is 

 sought by Mr. Strickland, I have already informed you (vide vol. xiii. 

 p. 115). 



A superb living Vultur cinereus has been sent by Major Jenkins 

 from Assam, which enables me to refer to this species beyond all 

 doubt the so-called V. monachifs figured by Hardwicke, and the head 

 alone of which is published by Gray. Latham describes this draw- 

 ing under the head " Chocolate Vulture." My bird is now casting 

 its first primaries, and should therefore be in its second year, the 

 colouring of the head being nearly as represented on the plate. In 

 the breadth of skull and aquiline strongly hooked beak, this bird ap- 

 proaches the division Otogyps, and it has been separated by Mr. 

 Hodgson under the somewhat strange name of Polypteryx. 



Of Owls, I have added to the catalogue Ketupa Leschenaulti, 

 which is by no means rare ; Urrua umbrata, nobis, which is less 

 common ; and Scops sunia, Hodgson, of which beautiful little spe- 

 cies I procured a pair that were taken with bird-lime. There are no 

 less than five Indian species of true Scops, exclusive of coromanda, 

 which is probably an Urrua, Hodgson. The U. coromanda, apud 

 Hodgson, is my U. umbrata ; and the same is evidently alluded to by 

 Latham in his description of Strix coromanda, as represented in a 

 drawing which he saw in the possession of Sir Joseph Banks, the 

 figure measuring 20 inches in length ; but it cannot be the Strix co- 

 romanda of Hardwicke and Gray, being much darker in colour, in 

 addition to its very superior size. Mr. Jerdon has also recently ob- 

 tained U. umbrata in the south. 



That Strix hirsuta, Tern., must be referred to the Sumatran Str. 

 scutulata of Raffles, I have this further evidence, that the Bengal 

 species is quite common about Singapore ; and it is also the Ominous 

 Owl of Latham, or Col pecha (death-owl) of the Bengalees, by 

 whom its cry is believed to forebode the death of any sick person 

 within whose hearing it is uttered. 



* The above remarks are very important, as they seem to show that the 

 Elanus of America and of Australia is the same species as that of the old 

 world. The wing-spot in E. axillaris, Lath. (E. notatus, Gould), exactly 

 agrees with Mr. JBlyth's description, except in being sooty-black and not 

 " slaty-black"— -H. E. S. 



