Mr. R. Swinlioe on Chinese Ornithology. 267 



Mr. Keuleman's excellent handiwork gives life to the de- 

 scription of the specimen I now transcribe from my notes. 

 Total length 17 inches; wing 13; second quill 2'6 longer 

 than the first and '9 shorter than the third, which is "2 shorter 

 than the fourth or longest in the wing. First to fifth quills 

 notched on the edge of the iimer web ; the third to fifth on 

 outer web. Tail 8-5, of nearly equal feathers; under tail- 

 coverts 3 inches short of tail-tip. Tarse 2'7 long, including 

 the upper feathered portion, which extends '9 from joint 

 downwards ; middle toe 1*2, its claw -4. 



Upper parts light brown, the feathers on the back dark- 

 stemmed. Crown, nape, and scapulars blackish brown in 

 centre of feathers, with broad yellowish red raagins. Under- 

 parts light buff, with yellowish brown streaks, broad and darker 

 on breast ; tibials and vent chestnut-buff, with darker stems 

 to feathers. Quills brown, tipped light, with lightish stems, 

 and barred across inner webs more obscurely towards their 

 tips ; axillaries reddish cream, with reddish brown spots ; under 

 wing whitish cream, with conspicuous bars. Upper tail- 

 coverts greyish white ; tail whitish brown, with three broad 

 bars ; a fourth, indistinct bar crosses near base of tail. Tail 

 viewed from below, outer rectrix brownish white faintly bar- 

 red with brown ; the rest of a similar ground-colour, but 

 with broad blackish brown bars. 



Cere, base of bill, rictus, and skin round eye greenish yellow. 

 Bill bluish black. Iris ochreous yellow. Tarsi and toes 

 yellow, claws fine bluish black. 



Mr. Fleming was the first that got this species in China. 

 He procured the adult at Tientsin (P. Z. S. 1862, p. 315). I 

 did not meet the species till October 1873; when on the lakes 

 near Ningpo one morning in that month, I observed one in 

 immature plumage sitting on a ridge of mud. I did not suc- 

 ceed in securing it. 



The Shanghai specimen above described is the only other 

 that I can speak of with certainty. 



The plains of China, with their flat wet fields under paddy 

 cultivation in summer, do not seem to find favour with these 

 roving birds of prey ; and I have not heard of a single species 



