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



fourth year " to have " reddish -yellow " irides ; in the second year 

 "brown;" and in the young of the year " dusky-brown"; but Mon- 

 tagu describes a female before him to have " yellow " irides, in which 

 he is perhaps copied by Fleming. None of these authors mention the 

 presence of any ash-colour on the wings and tail ; but I observe that 

 Mr. Gould's Himalayan specimen is noticed as " showing a curious 

 change of plumage " by Sir W. Jardine in the ' Naturalist's Library/ 

 So far from being unusual is it however in this neighbourhood, that 

 I have seen two or three in the course of a day's excursion, and 

 have had at least a dozen specimens thus coloured brought me within 

 the last few weeks, and two or three only with dark wings and tail. 

 With respect to the size, Mr. M c Giliivray assigns the following as 

 the respective dimensions of the sexes of the British species. Length 

 to end of tail 21 and 24 inches ; of wing 16J and 16J- in. ; of tail 10 

 and 9| in. (!); and alar expanse 50 and 52 in. The dimensions of 

 the Indian bird are 19 and 21 \ in. ; wing 15 and 16 in. ; tail 8 J to 9 

 and 9^ in. ; and alar expanse 45 and — ? In four gray-winged males 

 before me, the length of the wing varies from 14 j to 15^ in., and in 

 two dark- winged (young) males it is only 14 \ in. In the gray- winged 

 specimens, the pale head and throat never contrast remarkably with 

 the rest of the plumage, as in the young of both sexes, and com- 

 monly in the European species ; but the central dark lines to the 

 feathers are usually much developed, often leaving but a slight lateral 

 pale or rufous edge to each feather. For a minute description how- 

 ever, I must refer to my ' Synopsis ' of Indian Raptores *. 



No. 15. This I suspect is the Falco bido, Horsfield, and the spe- 

 cies would accordingly now stand as Spilornis bido. Falco albidus of 

 Cuvier and Temminck, v. Buteo melanotis of Jerdon's ' Supplement/ 

 is merely the young, as was first intimated to me by Mr. Jerdon, an 

 identification which I have since verified f. 



No. 16. Mr. Strickland, following Mr. G. R. Gray, is quite in 

 error respecting the generic location of the birds which I formerly 

 referred to Spizaetus, and which must now be restored to Nisaetus of 

 Hodgson, a very distinct form, represented by the following Indian 

 species : — 1. N. caligatus (?) ; Falco caligatus (?), Raffles ; F. niveus, 

 Tern. ; N. nipalensis, Hodgson ; Bauj Eagle and probably Jerwied 



* The European species may perhaps likewise be found here, in which 

 case, however, I think it likely that such closely allied races would be apt 

 to coalesce. While treating of this genus, I would also suggest that the sup- 

 posed female, C. Montagui, described by Mr. Selby to have the lower parts 

 " orange-brown, without spot or streak," may possibly be an adult female of 

 C. Swainsonii. 



f Since the above was written, one of my shikarees has come in with a 

 fine collection of Raptores, procured during an excursion towards the Soon- 

 derbuns. Among them are two species which I have not procured before 

 in this neighbourhood ; — Circa'etus galliciis, and a remarkable specimen of 

 a crestless Pernis. which is the P. Ellioti of Jerdon's list, and doubtless also 

 that of Lesson in Belanger's ' Voyage' ; I am not sure also that it differs spe- 

 cifically from P. apivora. [In a note dated three days later, Mr. Blyth says, 

 " I have got two more specimens of the Pernis, and these lead me to suspect 

 that P. cristata, Ellioti, and maculosa of Lesson are all one and the same."] 



