THE BIRDS OF NORTHERN THAILAND 81 



parts boldly edged whitish and the head and neck more heavily 

 marked with dark brown. 



The osprey might be confused with the immature serpent eagle, 

 which is sometimes seen near water. The latter is crested, does not 

 hover, has a quite different call, and has the wing and tail broadly 

 and very conspicuously barred. 



Family FALCONIDAE 



FALCO PEREGRINUS HARTERTI Buturlin 



Siberian Peregrine 



Falco peregrinus harterti Buturlin, Psovala. i Ruzheinafa Okhota, vol. 13, 1907, 

 p. 100 (Lower Lena to Anadyr, common on the Kolyma). 2 



Falco peregrinus calidus, de Schauensee, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 

 1929, p. 576 (Chiang Rai). — Deignan, Journ. Siam Soc. Nat. Hist. Suppl., 

 1931, p. 165 (Chiang Mai) ; 1936, p. 78 (Chiang Mai). 



The only specimen from within our limits was collected by de 

 Schauensee at Chiang Kai, January 6, 1929. I saw one near Chom 

 Thong, November 29, 1931. For Chaing Mai I have four sight 

 records : one, November 8, 1930 ; two flying steadily northward, March 

 7, 1931; one, October 24, 1936; one, November 5, 1936. Its status 

 seems to be that of a rather rare winter visitor along the valleys of the 

 larger rivers. 



De Schauensee reports that his bird was taken near a house, from 

 which it had been stealing fowls. This specimen had the irides 

 brown; the orbital region and cere pale olive-yellow; the bill olive- 

 gray, tipped black ; the feet and toes bright yellow, tinged greenish ; 

 the claws black. 



An adult male from Ban Wang Mo, near Kahaeng, has the upper- 

 parts generally bluish slate, the centers of the feathers darker, the 

 head more blackish, the lower back and upper tail coverts more bluish 

 with black bars ; on the side of the head a black patch below the eye 

 and another similar patch from the nape, each extending into the 

 white of the throat ; the underparts pale creamy white, with narrow 

 black shaft streaks on the breast, which change to spots on the ab- 

 domen, to bars on the flanks and thighs. An immature male from 

 Ban Wang Muang, near Eahaeng, has the upperparts dark brown; 

 the underparts buffy white, heavily streaked with dark brown. 



Falcons may be distinguished from hawks by their long, pointed 

 wings and by their having a tooth at the edge of the maxilla just behind 

 the hooked tip. The present species is the largest falcon known to 

 occur in our area. 



After Stegmann's researches on the Asiatic peregrines (Journ. fur 

 Orn., 1934, pp. 222-236), which indicate that a number of races must 



2 Original not seen ; reference taken from Peters. 



