IIAPTORES. 19 



the end of August. I succeeded in finding two nests, each of 

 which contained two eggs ; but I am told that three are 

 sometimes found. The nest is formed of sticks, with fine 

 twigs or coarse grass as a lining ; it is about two feet in 

 diameter, and built in a strong fork of the dead part of a 

 tree : both of those I found were about thirty feet from the 

 ground and about two hundred yards from the beach. The 

 eggs, which are two inches and two lines in length by one 

 inch and eight lines in breadth, are of a dirty white, having 

 the surface spread over with numerous hair-like streaks and 

 very minute dots of reddish brown, the former prevailing and 

 assuming the form of hieroglyphics — these singular markings 

 being most numerous at one end, sometimes at the larger, at 

 others at the smaller, the difference even occurring in the two 

 eggs of the same nest." 



The sexes are alike in colour ; the young, on the other 

 hand, differ considerably from the adult, being much darker, 

 and, like the young of H. Indus, having the lower parts 

 streaked and the upper spotted with fulvous ; they have also 

 darker-coloured eyes. 



Head, neck, chest, and upper part of the abdomen snow- 

 white ; back, wings, lower part of the abdomen, thighs, upper 

 and under tail-coverts rich chestnut-red ; first six primaries 

 chestnut at ^ the base and black at the tip ; tail-feathers 

 chestnut-red on their upper surface, lighter beneath, the 

 eight central feathers tipped with greyish white ; irides light 

 reddish yellow ; cere pale yellowish white ; orbits smoke- 

 grey ; upper mandible light ash-grey at the base, passing 

 into sienna-yellow, and terminating at the tip in light horn- 

 colour ; under mandible smoke-grey ; tarsi cream-yellow, 

 much brighter on all the large scales of the tarsi and toes. 



According to Mr. Gurney, this species has also been 

 obtained by Mr. Wallace in Macassar, Batchian, Ternate, 

 Timor, and Moro. 



c 2 



