26 ]\Ir. A. Hume on Indian Ornithulugy. 



Since sending home this specimen, I have procured numerous 

 others ; and I now entertain no doubt that (as pointed out in 

 Part ii. of my " Rough notes ") this smoky-coloured, white- 

 barred-tailed Buzzard is a stage of B.ferox. As regards the 

 other two Buzzards, M. Verreaux remarks, "I have great diffi- 

 culty in not considering all your three specimens as belonging 

 to one and the same species, notwitlistanding the differences in 

 plumage and in the extent to which the tarsi are feathered. Dif- 

 ferences in this latter respect are also often noticeable in our 

 common Buzzard of France. At any rate, one thing seems to 

 me certain, that the lighter of the two birds is the adult, and the 

 darker the young one. I enclose a note, prepared by one of 

 my friends in regard to various differences which exist between 

 your specimens and numerous specimens procured at certain 

 seasons of the year on the Bosphorus by M. Alleon.^^ 



He adds, " Possibly the lighter-coloured of the three speci- 

 mens may be merely a stage of Buteo feroxP My own convic- 

 tion now is that this lighter-coloured specimen is one stage of 

 Buteo desertorum ; but I am bound to remark that as my already 

 large series of both these supposed species [B.ferox and B. deser- 

 torum) increases, I am more and more inclined to suspect, not that 

 they are identical (typical examples of each differ most conspi- 

 cuously), but that intermediate forms occur, and that in some 

 parts of Asia they either interbreed or else have never become 

 truly distinct. 



80. Glaucidium brodiei. 



I sent to Paris what I considered to be a new species of Pigmy 

 Owl. M. Verreaux decides that it is only an old bird of the above 

 species. It is remarkable for having the whole head, nape, back, 

 and scapulars entirely spotless brown, thus presenting a totally 

 different appearance from the specimens commonly met with. 



t 99 bis. BuTALis grisola, Linn. 



This is another addition to our avifauna ; T obtained a specimen 

 from Jodhpoor in a collection kindly sent me by Dr. King. I at 

 once noticed that it was new to us in India, but felt much puzzled 

 where to place it. M. Verreaux remarks of the specimen sent 

 him, " This is Butalis grisola, a very common species in Europe, 



