to ' The Birds of India.' 341 



perfectly resembles the type of Blyth's A. hemipiilopus ; and I 

 fancy the lengthened nasal plumes of the specimen, figured 

 in the ' Calcutta Journal of Natural History ' as nearly con- 

 cealing the cere, were due to individual variety, as they do not 

 appear in the two specimens I have examined. 



50. Circus cyaneus. 



I have killed this bird in Deyra Doon ; Blanford has re- 

 corded it from Central India, and Hume from various parts of 

 the North-west Proviuces and Punjab. 



53. Circus melanoleucos. 



Hume states that this Harrier is very rare or unknown in 

 the North-west Provinces; and Blanford says the same as to 

 Western India. A male measured as follows : — Length 17^ 

 inches, expanse 42, wing 14, tail 9, tarsus 3. 



The female, contrary to what I state in the text, and to 

 Mr. Blyth's published opinion, much i-esembles the same sex 

 in other species. One in the Paris Museum, sent from China 

 by Pere David, was 18 inches long, wing 14^, tail 9|, 

 tarsus 3j. It has the upper parts umber-brown; the feathers 

 of the head were rufous and centred dark ; chin and ear-coverts 

 pale brown ; the throat and ruff-feathers white, with brown 

 centre ; plumage beneath rufous-brown, the shafts slightly 

 darker ; quills dark brown ; the tail pale rufous-brown, banded 

 with dusky brown ; the feathers of the lower part of the abdo- 

 men, thigh-coverts, and under tail-coverts broadly edged with 

 creamy white. 



I killed a Harrier at Suddya, in Upper Assam, which in 

 coloration very closely resembles C. spilonotus, Kaup, from South 

 China, the Philippines, Singapoi*e, figured in ' The Ibis ' for 

 1863, pi. 5, Its measurements in the flesh were: — length 

 nearly 20 inches, expanse 46, wing 15, tail 9f, tarsus rather 

 more than 3, middle toe with claw nearly 2. 



It is a good deal smaller than true C. spilonotus', and Mr. 

 Gurney, after carefully examining it and some others, viz. one 

 from Ceylon and two from the Philippines and Malacca, has 

 come to the conclusion that it is in the seconJ stage of coloration 

 of the male of C melanoleucos. Mr. Hume had previously come 



