396 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. vii. 



wings are short and rounded, the tail is long, the tarsi high, 

 and the bare circle round the eye is wanting. The beak is curved 

 directly from the base, but the mandibles are rarely toothed. 



There are four species of raptorial birds in the collection under 

 consideration. The first of these, though not labelled, is obviously 

 the Pondicherry fish eagle, the Falco Pontecerianus of Shaw, the 

 Haliastur Indus of recent systematists. As its latest generic 

 name imports, it has afl&nities^with the sea eagles, and, as it seems 

 to the writer, very remote ones indeed with the goshawk. Its 

 systematic place seems to be between the eagles and the buzzards 

 The Pondicherry Eagle, called the Brahminy Kite by European 

 residents in India, feeds to a certain extent on fishes, which it 

 snatches from the surface of the water ; but it also preys upon 

 small birds and other animals, including crabs and insects, and 

 will not, so some say, refuse carrion. It is regarded by the Hin- 

 doos as sacred to Vishnu. Pearson says among the Mohammedans 

 there is a prevalent notion that when two armies are about to en- 

 gage the appearance of one of these birds over either party prog- 

 nosticates victory to that side. Colonel Sykes, who has closely 

 studied the habits of this species, denies that it ever lives on car- 

 rion, and says its food is almost always fish, but exceptionally 

 Crustacea. 



The Kestrel, although in some respects a true falcon, is more 

 slender, fragile, and less powerful than the noble falcons, such as 

 the Gyr and Peregrine. The Kestrels indeed, for there are at 

 least four species, have been separated from the true falcons and 

 have been formed into a separate sub-genus, characterised by 

 a lax and streaming plumage, the comparative weakness of the 

 quills that form the wings, the length of the tail, the strong and 

 short toed feet and lastly by the difi'erence in the colour of the 

 feathers, which varies with the sex. The Common Kestrel is by- 

 far the most abundant hawk in Great Britain. It feeds princi 

 pally upon field mice and shrews, occasionally on small birds, 

 and not unfrequeutly on earthworms and insects. Selby states 

 that kestrels have been seen, late in the summer evenings, huutin^ 

 for cockchafers : one was seen to dash among the insects, seize 

 one in each foot and then devour both on the wing. Another 

 writer remarks : '' The flight of the kestrel, when searching for its 

 favourite food is very peculiar. It flies gently along at some 30 

 or 40 feet from the ground, but stops every now and then and 

 remains perfectly stationary, hovering in the air and minutely 



