314 MR. A. ANDERSON ON THK [Mar. 21, 



51. Circus swain son ii, Smith. 



A voung male of this species which I shot on the 25th October 

 last, close to Futtehgurh, is very interesting, as it illustrates the man- 

 ner in which the light grey plumage of the adult male is gradually 

 assumed. The rufous head and rust-coloured markings on the under- 

 parts of this specimen, which was sexed by myself, indicate that the 

 juvenile dress of the young male resembles in some degree that of 

 the female. 1 have recently had an opportunity of examining another 

 young male, belonging to Mr. Brooks, which is in a still further ad- 

 vanced stage, having only the forehead rufous. 



The irides of the Futtehgurh-killed bird were bright yellow, as in 

 fully adult specimens ; the legs and feet were light yellow ; the bill 

 and claws were black ; and the cere was greenish yellow. 



*J2. Circus cineraceus, Montagu. 



Jerdon's statement "j" "equally abundant with the last ..." and, 

 again, " I have found it in every part of India " requires modification 

 as regards the deltaic portion of the North-western Provinces, an area 

 comprising several thousand square miles. In this part of the country, 

 although C. swainsonii is extremely common everywhere, C. cinera- 

 ceus can only be considered in the light of an occasional straggler ; 

 and as the capture I am about to record throws some light on the 

 geographical range, plumage, and food of this species, it is of interest 

 in more ways than one. 



Returning to my camp late in the evening of the 12th March, 

 through an extensive tract of stiff dry grass from two to three feet 

 high, I suddenly disturbed a large gathering of Harriers that had 

 evidently settled on the reed beds for the night. There could not 

 have been less than forty birds, inclusive of a few short-eared Owls 

 that were closely packed in that one spot. As they circled overhead 

 I recognize d Circus ceruginosus in all shades and colours ; there was 

 also a fair sprinkling of C. swainsonii, male and female. Being at 

 the time on the qui vive for strangely coloured Harriers, I singled out 

 and brought down what appeared to me on the wing to be a bird 

 that could hardly be referred to the latter species. It fell from a 

 good height on to the edge of a dry pond, rupturing its crop, which 

 was very much distended and literally crammed with the callow 

 young and eggs of Galerida cristata and Pyrrhulauda (jrisea, the 

 majority of these dainty morsels having been swallowed entire. 



The specimen underwent a critical examination by candlelight ; 

 and great was my delight when, instead of the common C. swainsonii, 

 I found that my list could now boast of the addition of a fine adult 

 male example of Montagu's Harrier. The plumage accords with 

 Yarrell's description of the adult male — with this notable exception, 

 however, that in my specimen the whole of the underparts, from the 

 chin to the under tail-coverts, are uniform with the mantle, viz. 

 bluish i/rii/, dashed with longitudinal streaks of orange on the vent 



1 Cf. 'Birds of India,' to], i. p. 98. 



