OTES 



ON THE PERSISTENCE OF THE RIGHT OVARY 

 AND ITS DUCT IN BIRDS. 



With reference to the notes on this subject (c/. antea Vol. IV., 

 pp. 188 and 216), I think it may be worth while to put on 

 record, that on March 19th, 1911, I received a female Lesser 

 Kestrel {Falco cenchris) which had been shot the day before 

 near Empoli (Tuscany, Italy), and on dissecting it I discovered 

 that it had both ovaries equally well developed, but the right 

 oviduct was not so wide as the left. This bird is in the rare 

 stage of plumage, due to age, I 

 .-po crpo^c^ think, of an old female that has (in 

 cC^^o& '^S'oH V'^"^^) acquired the plumage of the 



f^^O ^^Si^ adult male. The feathers of the 



f^ °i§'^ crown have a blue-grey central stripe 



^^^ becoming paler towards their mar- 



^f^- ^tlK ^^^^' ^^'^i^h are light rufous ; sides 



^ / " of the head, of the neck, and of 



Ovaries ot Falco cenchris, ^^^ upper-breast bluish-ash ; rump, 



specimen a, 18th March, upper tail-coverts and tail of a 



sizeV ^'^^^^^^^ bright blue-grey, this latter slightly 



barred and with a broad subterminal 



black band, and broadly tipped with white ; a few narrow lines 



and small spots on the mantle ; upper-breast narrowly streaked, 



the lower-breast and flanks with a few blackish spots. I am 



not aware of any recorded instance of the present species 



assuming a plumage resembling that of the adult male, as 



appears to be the case, not very infrequently, in very old 



females of F. tinnunculus . 



In about twenty years' experience, some thousands of 

 specimens of many species have come into my hands. I have 

 always paid special attention to the sexual glands of the 

 females, and have accumulated notes on this subject. The 

 case of F. cenchris seems to me of a peculiar interest, because 

 it is the first time that I have found both ovaries present in 

 this species. 



I venture to add a list of the birds which have passed through 

 my hands with the right as well as the left ovaries present, 

 because I can record some species that have not been men- 

 tioned in the above-mentioned notes. All the following 

 specimens have been obtained in Italy, except when other- 

 wise stated : — 



