137 
The Khand Besras, duly arrived.—They turned out to be 
female Virgatus, one in the stage I first deseribed and the other 
similar, but the whole plumage, very much paler, faded and 
abraded, with the throat rusty white without a central stripe, 
and only a very few of the feathers with dark shafts, the barring 
of the under parts, feebler, wider apart, much less regular, paler 
and yellower, often incomplete, and in the breast, especially at 
the tips, having a cordate tendency. 
No one who knows Mr. Thompson, will doubt that he has 
accurately described a real difference in the haunts and habits of 
the birds in their two stages, measurements show that structu- 
ral differences do not exist; but no one I think, after looking 
through the series now before me, can doubt that these are true 
Virgatus. 
Mr. Blyth in commenting upon Dr. Jerdon, added in a note, 
“My original description of 4. Misotdes may here be quoted. 
‘Presumed female in mature plumage, differmg only from that 
of Nisus in its much inferior size, being smaller than the male 
of that species, and in having the throat streak-less white, except 
a narrow median dark line. ‘The usual lateral lines occur, but 
not conspicuously, which are observable in various species of 
Hawks, Hagles, &e. Length of wing, 7°25. Tail, 5:5. Tarsus, 
1:75. Mid toe and claw, 1°5.’ ” 
Now I note here that in the specimens that I have of Virga- 
tus, the wing varies from 6°35 to 8'1. The tail from 5:5 to 677 ; 
the tarsus from 1°85 to 2:1, and the mid toe and claw from 1°6 
to 1:85. There is nothing here very irreconcilable. Mr. Blyth 
goes on: “I have seen three nearly similar specimens of this 
Sparrow Hawk, all received from Malacca, and it is much more 
closely akin to Visus than Virgatus. No trace of ferruginous 
colouring underneath was observable in any of the three. 
They were of the size of the male of A. Nisus or somewhat 
smaller with the plumage of the non-rufous adult female of that 
species, combined with the trilineated throat of Virgatus ; the 
affinity I repeat being much closer to the former species than 
to the latter.” Now the whole of this is verbatim applicable to 
a female before me, closely resembling the first described by 
me, having lost the rufous edgings to the feathers, except that 
it has not the central stripe, but each feather of the whole throat 
has a dark shaft, or very narrow dark shaft stripe. As for the 
‘“‘trilineated throat” of Virgatus, the adults have not a trace of 
it, and out of nineteen specimens of all ages, only three show it 
distinctly. 
Dr. Stoliezka next thought that Ae had obtained a specimen 
of A. Gularis, which he described at length. I shali not 
