Mr. R. B. Sharpe on Birds from Fao. 103 



XIII. — Notes on a second Collection of Birds made by Mr. W, 

 D. Cumming at Fao, in the Persian Gulf. By R. Bowdler 

 Sharpe, F.L.S., &c.j Zoological Department, British 

 Museum. 



The collection -whicli I now describe was sent to the British 

 Museum some time ago by my excellent correspondent, 

 Mr. W. D. Cumming. Considerable delay has taken place in 

 the preparation of this paper, owing to the pressure of other 

 official work, and also to the necessity of having the Passeres, 

 the bulk of which were carbolized, carefully prepared before 

 identification. This work has been done for the Museum by 

 Mr. Cullingford, of Durham, and the collection of skins from 

 Fao is now one of the most valuable of the recent contribu- 

 tions to the Collection. 



An interesting addition to the present donation was the 

 collection of birds^ eggs which accompanied it. My readers 

 will be glad to know that among these are eggs of the rare 

 Hypocolius ampelinus, of which a" figure has recently been 

 given in the * Proceedings of the Zoological Society ' (P. Z. S. 

 1890, pi. XV.). Mr. Cumming, it will be remembered, was 

 the donor of the living example of this valuable bird now 

 in the Society's Menagerie. 



I have referred to my former paper in the ' Ibis ' for 1886, 

 and also to Mr. Blanford's ' Eastern Persia, '' and other well- 

 known works. 



1. Circus macrurus (Gm.) : Sharpe, Ibis, 1886, p. 476. 

 No. 54. Young male, Oct. 9th, 1886. 



2. Circus ^eruginosus (L.) : Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. i. 

 p. 69; Blanf. East. Persia, p. 110. 



55. Young male, Oct. 15th, 1886. Wing 15-2. 

 65. Young female, Oct. 29th, 1886. Wing 16-1. 

 The male is much darker than the female, and of a blackish 

 chocolate, with a fawn-coloured head and throat. 



3. BuTEO DESERTORUM (Daud.) : Sharpe, Ibis, 1886, p. 476. 

 Female, Sept. 14th, 1886. [Migrating in great numbers 



