MICROHIERAX. 431 



tinge ; quills black, their inner webs except near the tip white, as 

 is the wing-lining ; tail above grey like the rump, with abroad black 

 subterminal band and a white tip, whitish beneath ; lower surface 

 of body pale to deep rufous, with small rounded black spots on the 

 breast and flanks, these disappear gradually with age. 



Female and young male similar to those of T. alaudarius, but 

 easily distinguished by their pale whitish claws. The tail in young 

 males becomes grey by moult before the head or wing-coverts 

 assume the ashy colour. 



Bill bluish horny, paler at the base ; cere dark yellow, irides deep 

 brown ; legs and feet bright yellow, sometimes with an orange tinge ; 

 claws ivhitish or yellowish horny. 



Length about 13 ; tail 5-75 ; wing 9 ; tarsus 1-2 ; mid-toe without 

 claw -9 ; bill from gape -8. There appears to be no constant differ- 

 ence between the sexes in size. 



The Chinese and Indian bird has been separated as T. pekinensis 

 on account of having the wing-coverts chiefly grey instead of red. 

 Gurney has, however, shown that the difference is not constant. 



Dresser has clearly proved that the name naumanni has no claim 

 to priority over cenchris. 



Distribution. A migratory bird, passing the summer and breeding 

 in Southern Europe, Western Asia, Persia, and China, and visiting 

 Africa and India in the cold season. Blyth, however, said that it 

 was met with in Bengal in the monsoon (probably September), and 

 Jerdon that he found it breeding on the Nilgiris in May and 

 June. Hume suspects that the Common Kestrel was mistaken for 

 this species in the latter case. T. cenchris has been met with in 

 many parts of India and as far East as Cachar and the Naga bills, 

 but it has not yet been obtained in Burma nor has it been observed 

 in Ceylon. 



Habits, fyc. Very similar to those of the Common Kestrel, but this 

 species is more gregarious and more insectivorous. It has not been 

 observed to nest in India with the exception of the doubtful case 

 above mentioned. 



Genus MICROHIERAX, Sharpe, 1874. 



The pigmy Falcons, or Falconets as they have been termed, are not 

 closely allied to Falcons nor to any other group. They are distin- 

 guished from all other Accipitrine birds by their mode of nidification, 

 in which they resemble Owls, Parrots, Barbets, &c., for they lay 

 white eggs in a hole hollowed in the trunk or branch of a tree. 

 The eggs are moderately elongated ovals, fairly close in texture, 

 without gloss, and are said by Hume to be unlike the eggs of any 

 Accipitrine birds in shape and texture, apart from colour. The 

 Falconets inhabit open parts of forests, and are usually seen perched 

 on dead twigs or branches on tolerably high trees ; from their perch 

 they launch into the air in pursuit of their prey, principally insects, 

 and then return to the same perch. They also at times kill small 

 birds. Their flight is peculiar, not unlike that of Artamus, but 

 their method of hawking insects resembles that of a Bee-eater. 



