246 Mr. Blyth's Commentary 



thus straggle far westward, viz. Accipiter nisoides [gularis], Bu- 

 teo asiaticus {hemilasius) , B. plumipes (japonicus), and Poliornis 

 poliugenys (v. pygmceus, nobis). The last was originally de- 

 scribed by Temminck from the Philippines, where it was subse- 

 quently obtained by the late Hugh Cuming; and a single speci- 

 men was procured by the late Dr. Heifer somewhere in the 

 Tenasserim provinces, which I described as Buteo pygmmus in 

 1845. Mr. Swinhoe has noticed a crested example from For- 

 mosa ('Ibis,' 1864, p. 429). 



53. Circus melanoleucus. 



" Procured by Mr. Fleming, R.A., at Tientsin. Probably 

 extends throughout the interior of China " (Swinhoe, P. Z. S. 

 1863, p. 261) ; Upper and Middle Amuria (Gustav Radde, 

 'Reisen, &c/ii. p. 9, andtaf. ii. fig. 1) ; also Afghanistan. Dr. Jer- 

 don remarks (in his Appendix) that " this Harrier, I have every 

 reason to believe, breeds in Northern India. I saw several in 

 Purneeah in July, some of them in a garb resembling that of 

 the females of the other species, and shot one bird in a state of 

 change from the female garb to the black and white ordinary 

 plumage. This was apparently not a young bird of the year, 

 for the tail-feathers were much worn. Can this bird, then, have 

 a double moult ? It would appear so, unless I was mistaken in 

 considering it not a bird of the year. If so, they have the or- 

 dinary female garb of Harriers at first, and shortly afterwards 

 assume the peculiar pied livery of this species." In no diurnal 

 bird of prey known to me are the nestling-feathers shed during 

 the first year; and they are commonly much abraded when cast. In 

 the Owls, on the contrary, with the exception of the genus Strix 

 (or particular subfamily Siy-igina), the short and flimsy nestling- 

 garb, inclusive of the primaries and rectrices, is moulted soon 

 after leaving the nest. Unfortunately Dr. Jerdon does not de- 

 scribe the first plumage of Circus melanoleucus^ noting the dis- 

 tinctions by which it may be known from that of other species. 



55. HaLIASTUR INDUS. 



According to Professor Schlegel, this species is spread from 

 Nipal to the Philippines and Australia. The H. girrenera 

 (Yieillot, Gal. des Ois. pi. 10 ; H. leucosternus, Gould, B. 



