378 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 
Habits, &c.—An insectivorous species, which hawks over 
grass lands mainly at dusk. A specimen shot by Legge at 
Trincomalee was busy feeding on grasshoppers. In its usual 
haunts it is rather gregarious. 
AESALON CHICQUERA (Blanford, Vol. III., p. 427). 
FALCO CHICQUERA (Legge, p. 110). 
The Red-headed Merlin. 
Description.—Crown, nape, sides of neck, ear coverts, and 
a narrow cheek-stripe chestnut ; lores and a narrow forehead 
whitish ; a few bristly feathers round the eye black ; upper 
parts from the neck ash-gray ; scapulars, secondaries, and 
wing coverts more or less barred with brown ; primaries 
blackish-brown closely barred on the inner webs, except at the 
tip, with white ; tail gray, with narrow black bars, a broad 
black band near the end, and a narrow white tip, lower parts 
white, with a few short blackish streaks on the breast, and 
black bars on the flanks and abdomen. 
In old birds the dark bars on both the upper and lower 
plumage become narrow and tend to disappear. In young 
birds the gray feathers of the upper parts are barred with 
black, the crown and nape are dusky rufous with dark shaft- 
stripes, and the lower parts have a rusty tinge. 
Bill bluish-black, greenish-yellow at the base ; cere, eyelids, 
and legs yellow ; iris lightish-brown. 
Male: length 11°25; wing 8°25; tail 6; tarsus 1°5; 
mid-toe without claw 1:3; bill from gape °80. 
Females are rather larger : length 14 ; wing 9. 
Distribution.—The inclusion of this bird in the Ceylon list 
tests on the authority of Layard, who watched a specimen at 
Point Pedro, but failed to secure it. It is found throughout 
India, being common in many parts. 
Habits, &c.—Found chiefly in gardens, groves of trees in 
cultivated districts, or on the edges of isolated woods. It 
feeds mainly on small birds. A good lookout should be kept 
for it in the north of the Island, as it is quite possible that 
stray specimens occasionally wander across from India. It 
breeds in trees, making a neat nest of twigs lined with fibres. 
Four eggs are laid. They are brownish-red, mottled and 
blotched with darker red, and measure about 1°66 by 1:27. 
