56 Messrs. La Touche and Rickett on the 



them even after the nesting-season is over. Rickett once 

 saw a male Hobby strike a Kite (Milvus melanotis) fair on 

 the back, knocking out a small cloud of feathers ! 



Tinnunctjlus saturatus Blyth : Ibis, 1900, p. 48. 



This is apparently a resident race which descends to the 

 plains in winter, at which season we are also visited by 

 T. alaudarius. 



Microhierax melanoleucus Blyth : Ibis, 1894, p. 223. 



A large series of specimens, obtained since Rickett wrote 

 in the i Ibis ' as quoted above, has confirmed the conclusions 

 then arrived at. 



The species is a common resident in Central Fohkien, 

 occasionally straying down to the plains. 



An egg, taken from a hole in a tree, was of a blunt oval 

 shape : it measured 1*18 x '92 in., and was buff-coloured ; the 

 stain, however, readily washed off, shewing the dull white shell 

 beneath. This egg had evidently been laid some time, and 

 was lying on a few butterfly-Mings, under which was an old 

 nest of leaves and feathers. 



A pair of Falconets were seen about the place and were 

 shot by our collectors, who took from the oviduct of the 

 female a fully formed egg (unfortunately broken), which was 

 white with a few buff marks. 



In July our men brought us (alive) a pair of old birds and 

 a fully fledged young female which they had caught in a hole 

 in a tree. There were other birds in the hole, but they 

 escaped. 



The male died in about a fortnight, but La Touche kept 

 the two females for fourteen months, during which time he 

 made the following notes on their habits : — 



The young bird for some months preferred food taken 

 away from the old one to that provided for itself. It 

 would scream violently, and attempt to snatch away a half- 

 plucked Sparrow from its parent, which would endeavour to 

 protect her property by folding her wings over it, but after 

 a short tussle the young bird always obtained possession of 

 the prey. 



They spent most of the day and all the night in a box in 



