BANGS: BIRDS FROM THE HIGHLANDS OF SIBERIA. 467 



January 20, at Shigar, Kashmir. Other specimens from Japan and 

 Korea are darker, and more nearly approach European birds as do 

 two skins from middle China. All specimens from east to west except 

 the Altai Mountain birds, are very uniform in size, specimens from 

 Great Britain agreeing in this respect exactly with those from Korea, 

 and with examples of F. a. pallidus. 



The long series of skins now before me, which includes beside the 

 M. C. Z. material, all the specimens in the U. S. National Museum and 

 the American Museum of Natural History, shows very clearly three 

 well-marked races : — Falco aesalon aesalon Tunstall, F. a. pallidus 

 (Suschkin), and F. a. lymani, subsp. nov. A still larger suite of speci- 

 mens might reveal additional races, as it is difficult to allow that the 

 birds from Korea and the Kirghiz Steppes are really identical. 



Under the old rule of once a synonym always a synonym, Dr. Susch- 

 kin's name pallidus is rendered untenable by Falco pallidus Schl. and 

 Susem., a synonym of Circus macrurus. A name, that should be 

 considered in this connection also, is Falco sibiricus Shaw. The de- 

 scription indicates a merlin, pale in color both above and below and 

 said to inhabit Siberia. 



Cerchneis tinnunculus tinnunculus (Linne). 



Nine specimens, Tchegan-Burgazi Pass, adults of both sexes and 

 downy young. July 9 to July 25. One nest of the kestrel was 

 found, July 12. This was on a branch of a larch, 10 feet from the 

 ground, and 4 feet out from the trunk of the tree. It was built of 

 sticks and dried grasses and was nearly completely roofed over. 

 Perhaps it was an old magpie's nest which the kestrels had made use 

 of. It contained four downy young and one egg, all of which to- 

 gether with the parent birds, were secured. 



I cannot distinguish the kestrel of this region from the European 

 specimens I have compared it with. 



STRIGIDAE. 



Bubo bubo turcomanus (Eversmann). 



One old female and two young males, still in the down, but with 

 wing and tail feathers just beginning to grow out, were taken at 

 Tchegan-Burgazi Pass, July 7. 



