' Ornithologie Nor dost- Afrika's' 423 



synonym, either of jP. lanarius or of the race which does not seem 

 to be specifically distinct from F. lanarius, but is called by Prof. 

 Schlegel F. lanarius grcecus (Mus. P.-B, Falcones, p. 15). F. ba- 

 bylonicus is a distinct race, nearer to F. barbarus than to F. lana- 

 rius, but decidedly larger than the former. To complete the 

 synonymy of F. sacer (p. 27), the name F. cherrug, J. E. Gray, 

 should be added. I believe the author is wrong in uniting (p. 36) 

 the Afx'ican F. ruficollis with the Indian F. chicquera, which, 

 however closely allied it may be, certainly constitutes a distinct 

 species; and the latter name unquestionably belongs to the 

 Eastern bird, having been founded by Daudin on Levaillant's 

 " Chicquera^' (Ois. d'Afr. pi. 30), which is expressly said to have 

 been obtained in Bengal. It is on the other hand satisfactory that 

 Dr. von Heuglin concurs (p. 38) in the opinion expressed by Mr. 

 Sclater in ' The Ibis ' for 1861 (p. 346), that his F. castanonotus 

 is the female of F. semitorquatus of Sir A. Smith ; and the plate 

 of the young male now given (tab. i.) shows that, as in most 

 other birds, the immature of that sex resembles the adult female 

 rather than the adult male. It is surely an error (p. 40) to 

 refer, even with the expression of a doubt, the F. desertorum of 

 Daudin (Tr. d^Orn. ii. p. 162), founded on the " Rougri" of 

 Levaillant (Ois. d'Afr. pi. 17), to F. vespertinus*. The beautiful 

 Tinnunculus alopex, one of the most interesting of Dr. Heuglin's 

 discoveries, and long ago figured in this journal (Ibis, 1861, 

 pi. iii.) is still wanting, so far as I know, in every museum in 

 England. There is, however, at Leyden a specimen of this very 

 distinct species of Kestrel. Aquila vindhiana and A. punctata 

 can hardly with propriety be cited (p. 45) as synonyms of A. 

 rapax (sc. A. ncevioides), as they belong to the closely allied but 

 smaller and distinct Indian race. A. fulvescens may probably 

 be a synonym of the larger race (the true A. ncevioides), which 

 also occurs in North-Western India. In his account of Astur 

 palumbarius (p. 59), Dr. von Heuglin states that it is found in 

 Europe, with the exception of Iceland and Lapland — an assertion 

 that is no doubt true with regard to the first-named of those 

 northern lands, but quite erroneous so far as the last is con- 

 cerned, since Wolley found it commonly breeding there, and 

 * Cf. Ibis, 1862, pp. 361-363. 



