1917-] Nidification of some Indian Falconid(S . 357 



Over the greater part of its breeding-range the Hima- 

 layan Sparrow-Hawk lays principally in the latter half 

 of April and the first half of May, but in the lower eleva- 

 tions many birds lay in early April, and I have taken a 

 hard-set clutch of three eggs on the 1st of that month. 

 On the other hand, above 3500 feet they sometimes do not 

 commence to lay until the beginning of June or end of 

 May. 



They desert their nests very readily, and I have known 

 birds leave eggs which had not been touched, even when 

 they showed traces of incubation. At the same time I have 

 known birds stay on after the first egg had been laid, 

 taken out of the nest and examined, and the second and 

 third also looked at, before the final one was laid and the 

 whole clutch taken. 



They lay on alternate days as a rule, but very often two 

 days may elapse between the laying of the first and second 

 eggs, and two or even three between tlie subsequent layings. 

 Four eggs is perhaps the number most often laid, but very 

 often there are only three, and five in a clutch is a rare 

 occurrence. 



In appearance the eggs are quite typical Sparrow-Hawk's 

 eggs, but on an average are much more weakly coloured and 

 marked than are those of our English bird. The most 

 handsome egg I have seen (PI. VII. fig. 6) would be con- 

 sidered but a poor specimen when compared with really 

 boldly-marked clutches of A. nisus nisus, and the majority 

 are but feebly marked with more or less washed-out blotches, 

 smudgy patches, and spots varying from light sienna-brown 

 to a rather rich vandyke-brown or dark umber. The sub- 

 sidiary markings are generally rather more numerous than 

 the primary or superficial markings, and average somewhat 

 bigger, but in some specimens the proportions are reversed, 

 and the subsidiary markings are almost absent. Some eggs 

 are to all intents and purposes pure white, the few faint 

 smudges of colour hardly showing except in a bright light, 

 and I have seen one or two absolutely unmarked. 



