No. 7.] WHITE AVES — HIMALAYAN BIRDS. 395 



Not discouraged by the mishaps which had befallen his first 

 consignment, in 1869 Major Bulger gave the Society a large and 

 interesting series of woods and various other specimens collected 

 in British India, and in the following year a still larger collection 

 of miscellaneous objects, botanical specimens, and seven species of 

 birds from India and Africa. A paper descriptive of a portion 

 of this latter collection will be found on pages 66-75 of Vol. 5 

 (New Series) of this Journal. The Society is also indebted to 

 this gentleman for the donation of several scientific works, among 

 which are copies of Hooker's Himalayan Journals, and Gould's 

 elaborately illustrated Monograph on the Odontophorine or Par- 

 tridges of America. 



The beautiful collection of the birds of the Neilgherries and 

 Deccan of which these notes are illustrative, was received early 

 in 18T3. The specimens, 60 in number, were received in a good 

 state of preservation, and have been mounted by Mr. S. W. Passi 

 more. 



The remarks which follow have no claims to originality, their 

 object being simply to call attention to the salient points of in- 

 terest in the various species in the collection. The general struc- 

 tural peculiarities of the well-known order Raptores or Birds of 

 Prey are too well known even to the general reader to call for 

 any special comment here. To this group belong the Vultures, 

 Buzzards, Eagles, Falcons, Hawks, and Owls, besides other 

 smaller and more critical groups. 



In the Buzzards, the beak is straight from the apex to the cere 

 and the mandibles are untoothed. The birds of this section may 

 be recognized also by their usually heavy build, and by their 

 broad, thick, and flat heads. 



The Eagles are characterized not only by their large size and 

 powerful frame, but also by the characters of their beaks. In 

 these birds, as in the Buzzards, the beak is straight for a con- 

 siderable distance from the base, and terminates in a curve or 

 hook. The upper mandible is without teeth but is slightly 

 waved at the side. 



In the true Falcons the head is of medium size, the neck is 

 short, as is the bill, which is curved immediately from the base 

 and has its upper mandible conspicuously toothed. The tarsi are 

 short and there is a naked ring round the eye. The wings are 

 yery long and pointed. 

 The Hawks proper have a small head and a long neck, their 



