1871-] RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF INDIA. 677 



these details. One of a pair in my collection is fully half an inch 

 longer than its companion egg ; and I have several that are quite up 

 to the majority of the plates in ' Ootheca Wolleyana.' 



Although the Neophron builds at times on cliffs and old ruins, in 

 this part of the country they seem to prefer doing so on trees ; and 

 the nests that were examined by me this year were built alike on 

 the mango, tamarind, peepul, and burgot. One of a pair that built 

 close to my house was in the immature plumage, but I failed to dis- 

 cover whether it was the male or female. 



I saw a pair of these birds quartering the rock-side at Aden when 

 anchored off that fort ; were they the African or Indian form ? 

 The Neophron copulates on the ground ; and the operation is slow 

 and tedious. 



8. Falco peregrinus, Gmel. (The Peregrine Falcon.) 



Generally distributed in suitable localities, and essentially a Duck- 

 Hawk in this as well as in other countries. 



The Bhyree is a cold-weather visitant to the plains of India, arrives 

 in October and November, according to locality, and leaves again in 

 April. I procured five specimens of this Falcon ; and they were all, 

 when shot, within sight of jheels or swamps. They have invariably 

 allowed me to approach within easy shooting-distance, even when 

 they were about to take a duck. The following extracts from my 

 notebook, relating to this species, may not prove uninteresting : — 



"Camp, Mynpoory, Jan. 7, 1871. — Shot a young male in the 

 plain brown stage when sitting on the edge of a jheel. Crop con- 

 tained part of a Teal. Weighed 1 lb. 10 oz., while a male F.jugger 

 shot the same day weighed only 1 lb. 3 oz. The latter, however, 

 was weighed on an empty stomach." 



"Camp, Futtehgurh district, Jan. 30, 1871. — Tent pitched on 

 the edge of the Indurgurh jheel, which is actually alive with dif- 

 ferent kinds of Ducks, Waders, and Siberian Cranes (Grus leuco- 

 geranus). A charming place for an ornithologist ! Late in the 

 evening shot a mature female Peregrine from the bough of a huge 

 peepul tree which overlooked the jheel. Weight 2 lb. 4| oz. 

 Length 20, wing 15, expanse 44 inches. Cere, legs, and feet pale 

 greenish yellow ; eyelids very pale yellow, orbital space whitish, with 

 a tinge of green ; basal half of both mandibles pale blue, blackish 

 at the point. 



" Simultaneously with my shot, out flew another Falcon from the 

 same tree, uttering a shrieking noise, and making several swoops at 

 the wounded bird on the ground. It, however, proved to be a male 

 Jugger, and not the pair to the Peregrine, which I was in hopes it 

 would have turned out." 



"Camp, Etawah district, Feb. 9, 1871. — Shot another fully ma- 

 ture female close to the canal this morning. She had just flown 

 round a large grassy plain, striking terror into the Blue Rocks (Co- 

 lumba intermedia), and making the so-called Ortolans (Calundrella 

 brachydactyla) rise in clouds like flights of locusts, and perched on 

 a low thorny bush, where she was easily approached and shot. 



