ORNITHOLOGY. 403 



Tho Peregrine Falcon, or ^ BhtjrP of Indian falconers, is a bold bird, wliich in its 

 ■wild state -n-ill kill snipe, teal and duck, but which -when trained will fly at large 

 birds like herons and cranes. It is not supposed by Jcrdon to breed in the countiy, 

 but adults arc caught, mostly along the coast. It is so daring that it will often seize 

 and ean-y off ducks or other birds which have been just wounded by the sportsman. 

 In striking its prey the claws arc alone employed, not the beak, as artists often 

 depict. The Peregrine leaves India in April and returns in October. 



F. PELEGEINATOE, Gmcl. Touug-ngoo (rare). 



This bird is the ' Shahin'' or 'Royal' of Indian falconers. It breeds in March 

 and April and the young are taken in May. This and other falcons are also 

 captured in the following manner : A thin strip of cane, about the length of the 

 expanse of wing of the bird it is proposed to capture, is smeared with birdlime 

 at either end, and in the centre a live pigeon or dove is fastened. The eyes of tho 

 bird are sown up, to cause it to soar, and on a falcon lacing found, the pigeon is cast 

 up. Should the falcon swoop at it, the limed strip of cane hampers its wings and 

 it is easily captured. The ' Shahin,' according to Jerdou, is not slipped from the baud 

 at the quarry, but made to circle in the air above the falconer and his ]5arty. If 

 a partridge or florikcn is flushed at some distance, the ' Shahin ' makes two or three; 

 onward plunges iu the direction and then darts down oblicjuely ou the quarry, with 

 half-closed wings and more than an arrow's velocitj-. 



Hypotrioechis severds, Horsf. Tenasserim. 



TlNXtTNCULUS ALAUDARIUS, L. PcgU (commou). 



Jio-theing. ' Dove-hawk.' 



Common in Karon-ni, rare in Tenas=erim. 



T. satiiratus, Blyth, is the dark Tenasserim race, remarkable for tho great 

 development of the black markings. 



T. AMTJEENsrs, Eaddc. 



EuYxnEOPUs TEsPERTiNus, L. (?) Tliayet-myo. 



A young bird seemed to belong to this species. Food Blattce. 



PoijonrERAX iNsiGNis, Walden. Upper Pegu. 



Litkofalco Fieldeni, Hume. 



Hume's name would seem to claim precedency by right. Lord Waldeu's liy courtesy. 



" The habits of these birds somewhat resemble those of Magpies. They perch 

 exactly like a falcon ; but 'if they wish to move along a branch, they hop sideways, 

 or, if the branch is pretty upright, walk up it foot over loot, if I may use the 

 expression, in the same manner as a magpie. When at all alarmed, they jerk their 

 tail, and when much excited by the approach of any one, lower their heads exactly 

 iu the same way as some of the Owlets. Altogether, when moving about the branches 

 of a tree, they might, at a short distance, be mistaken for a magpie, except for the 

 shape of the head. The flight is also peculiar, a few tolerably ra])id strokes, ending, 

 if I remember rightly, in a slightly upward jerk, then a short sail through tho air, 

 and then a few more strokes, and so on " (Fielding, S.F. iii. p. 21). 



HiEEAX c-EEULEscExs, L. Arukan. Pegu. Tenasserim. 



IT. eutolmos, Ilodg. 



Doung-u-hnouk. 



Named by the Burmese ' Peacock-brains,' from the persuasion that it feeds ou 

 the brains of the peacock. 



H. FRiNorLLARins, Drapiez. 



M. cctridescens, Vieillot. Tenasserim. Borneo. 



H. MKLA.NOLEucus, Blyth. Kacluir, probably ranging into Arakan. 



The pigmy falcons are tlic Liliputians of their family. Godwin-Austen remarks, 

 "Their habits are shrike-like; tlicy sit on isolated dead trees in the forest clearings, 

 and sally ofl' from time to time to seize some insect." 



The eggs of Hicrax are laid early iu April, are four in number, oval, dead white 



