Letters, Announcements, ^c. 127 



quenting chiefly the west and south-west maritime regions. 

 I have shot it, however, in the south-east and in the north of 

 the island. It is more numerous in some years than in others. 

 In 1872 I met with more birds than before or since that year ; 

 and I then got a fine series of young birds in all stages of the 

 immature luteous head-dress ; no two birds were alike. There 

 appears to be an intermediate stage (that of the second year) 

 between yearling birds, with the buff head and throat, yel- 

 lowish chest, point of wing, patch over the elbow, and dark 

 tail, and those handsome examples (evidently in the third year) 

 in which the buff striated plumage of the head extends down 

 on to the back and over the lesser wing-coverts, and in which 

 the chest and throat are tawny and buff, the lower parts as ru- 

 fous, almost, as in the adult, the primary wing-coverts washed 

 with grey, and the tail uniform chocolate-grey. I refer to the 

 plumage, in which the rich buff of the head extends down to 

 the back, but not so far as in the above in which the wing- 

 coverts are partially overcast with the same, the upper tail- 

 coverts edged ferruginous, the under wing-coverts light rufous, 

 the tail light rufous brown slightly washed with grey, and 

 showing light beneath, and the iris light brown. I would 

 remark that in the third stage the iris is yellow, as in the 

 adult, and so are the tarsi, showing that the soft parts, in 

 their march towards maturity, gain on the plumage. 



Circus melanoleucus is very rare in Ceylon. I have only 

 seen one example during my seven years^ tour of collecting. 

 While on the subject of Raptors, I may mention that Messrs. 

 White and Co., taxidermists in Kandy, inform me that a 

 second example of L. kieneri has been procured in the hills. 

 I was fortunate to shoot a magnificent F. communis (?) on 

 the cliffs of thi s fort last month . A pair visit us every October ; 

 but their haunt is so inaccessible, that hitherto I have been 

 unable to get at them. The weight of this specimen equals, 

 I suppose, that of any ever shot in the east — 2 lb. 4 oz., and 

 carefully weighed ! It is true, its crop and stomach were full ; 

 but I conclude this condition is taken into account in the 

 weights given by Hume and others. This was a comparatively 

 young bird, brownish feathers still remaining on the head 



