66 Mr. E. C. Stuart Baker nn the [Ibis, 



Falconets, seem to disappear during a termite flight ; pre- 

 sumably the a])undaiit and delectable food available did 

 away, for the time being, of any need for it. 



We never found these little Falcons away from the hills 

 or from the wild and broken country at their base ; on the 

 other hand, they did not ascend the hills to any height. 



Microhierax cserulescens. 

 The E,ed-thighed Falconet. 



With the exception of the hills and mountains in which 

 M. melanoleucus is found, the Red-thighed Falconet is found 

 throughout Garhwal, Nepal, and the Himalaya north of 

 the Assam Ranges into the Shan States, eastern Burma, 

 Siam, Cambodia, and northern Malaya. 



The nest and eggs were first taken by Bingham, and are 

 described in full in Hume^s ' Nests and Eggs of Indian 

 Birds.' 



The eggs, four in number, were found in a hole in a 

 decayed branch of a Pymma-tree at a great height from the 

 ground, and were only discovered through seeing the birds 

 flying into the hole. As seems to be invariably the case with 

 these Falcons, there was a thick pad of beetles' wings and 

 other insect-remains, upon which the eggs were lying, but 

 otherwise no attempt had been made to build a real nest. 



Hume describes the eggs as : " regular, moderately elon- 

 gated ovals. The shell is very thin and fairly close in 

 texture, but has no appreciable gloss. The original colour 

 .... is a dead white, but the eggs as found were all suffused 

 ■with a dirty yellow tint." 



"The eggs vary from 1"1'' to 1*3" in length and from 

 •85" to '88" in breadth. They are equally unlike eggs of 

 Falco, Astur, and Circus. As to size and sliape, I can match 

 them exactly with large eggs of Cyanups franklini or small 

 ones of M. marshallorum, as regards texture and tint of 

 discoloration I can match them exactly with some eggs 

 of Taccocua affinis." 



These eggs were taken on the 14th of April, in 

 Tenasserim. 



