1 91 8.] N'ulification of some Lidian Falconid<e. 67 



An egg sent to me from Pei*ak, and obtained from the hills 

 inland about twenty miles from that place, agrees exactly with 

 the desci'iption of the eggs taken by Bingham. It measures 

 29*3 X 23"8 mm., and is a regular, but rather broad oval in 

 shape, and has the same curiously stained surface. It was 

 found on the 11th of February, 1908, in a deserted Barbet's 

 or Woodpecker's nest-hole high up in a large tree in forest 

 cultivation. The female was captured in the hole and sent 

 with it. The nest consisted as usual of a mass of insect- 

 remains, and all these small Hawks seem to have the same 

 habit of eating their prey inside the nest-holes. 



Microhierax fringillarius. 

 The Black-Legged Falconet * 



This little Falcon, which replaces the White-thighed 

 Falconet iii the extreme south of Tenasserim, the Malay 

 Peninsula, and further south, is even less well known than 

 the two other Indian forms of Falconet. The only record 

 of its nidification is that of Davison as quoted in Hume^s 

 ' Nests and Eggs.' The female and male were both shot, 

 and the former, which was seeti to come out of a disused 

 Barbet's hole, contained a fully-formed egg ready to be laid, 

 and in appearance exactly like those already described of 

 M. melanoleucus and M. carulescens, but of course without 

 stains. As usual the nest-hole, although no eggs had yet 

 been laid, contained a mass of insect-remains; according to 

 Davison, principally of Lepidoptera and Neuroptera, whereas 

 those of M. melanoleucus examined by me consisted principally 

 of Coleoptera mixed with feathers from many birds* 



The habits of all three of the species which are found 

 within Indian limits appear to be much the same, though 

 Davison, probably" because he knew M. melanoleucus less 

 well, considei^ed the present species to be the bolder. He 

 says that on one occasion he saw it stoop at a Blue Bock- 

 Thrush [Petrophila solitaria) ; on another occasion he shot 

 one which had caught and killed a Swallow. He also 

 recorded that he had taken the remains of birds, much 



f2 



