12. ExrpoDOTis. 327 



brown on the margins and with a sub-terminal bar of black ; under 

 wing-coverts and axillaries white ; the lower primary-coverts ashy, 

 minutely freckled, the edge of the wing black with whitish tips 

 to the feathers : " bill greyish brown to greyish white, dark at tip 

 and near the forehead and often a little yellowish below ; legs and 

 feet generally yellowish creamy, a little dingy on the toes, some- 

 times vrith a light fleshy tinge or with a pale grey or plumbeous 

 tinge ; iris pale to bright yellow. Total length 45 to 50 inches, 

 wing 24-5 to 29, tarsus 7'5 to 8-37; weight 17 to 22 pounds" 

 (A. 0. II.). 



Adult female. Very much smaller than the male, with broader 

 white tips and more white bars on the wing-coverts and quills, 

 and further distinguished by having a broad white eyebrow, and 

 by the blackish vermiculations on the throat and fore neck ; the 

 tail has a very distinct sub terminal band of black. " Total length 

 36 to 38 inches, wing 20 to 22, tarsus 5*5 to 6"8 ; weight 8 to 10 

 pounds " {A. 0. If.). 



Nestling. Sandy-coloured above \nth the usual vermiculations, 

 but distinguished by numerous large triangular spots or bars of 

 sandy buff, preceded by a mark of black, which imparts a variegated 

 appearance to the whole of the upper surface ; the head is black, 

 the feathers tipped with bars of pale sandy colour ; there is a broad 

 eyebrow of creamy white, as in the old female ; the underparts are 

 buffy white, with indications of dusky cross bars on the throat and 

 chest ; the markings on the wing are much more coarse and broken 

 up into mottlings than in the adult bird, and the creamy-white tips 

 to the coverts largely predominate, giving a much whiter appearance 

 to the wing. 



The greater number of the specimens in the Hume Collection 

 were killed in the cold season in the Punjab, and they are all 

 apparently fidly-moulted birds. The younger individuals may ap- 

 parently be distinguished by the coarse frecklings of the upper 

 surface and by a greater amount of black at the base of the dorsal 

 feathers. This sometimes causes a slightly variegated appearance, 

 but the sandy spots which distinguish the young birds seem to 

 entirely disappear at the first moult and are never seen again after- 

 wards. 



The typical specimen of E. edivardsi of Gray, which must have 

 formed the original of the native drawing in Hard\vicke's ' Illus- 

 trations,' has not passed into the possession of the Museum. The 

 figure is taken from a female bii'd, and the name edivardsi is founded 

 on the illustration in the above-named work. 



Hah. Plains of Indian Peninsula. 



a. Juv.sk. India. India Museum. 



b. $ ad. sk. Near Kotri, Kiver Indus Hume Coll. 



{Col. Butler). 

 c-s. c? ad.etimm. ; Sirza District, cold season. Hume Coll, 



a'-f. $ ad. et 

 imm. ; g'-h'. 

 Juv. et pull. sk. 



