Contrlhidions to the Ornithology/ of India, Sj-c. 15'5 



oldest bird I possess the whole of the tail feathers are tipped for 

 nearly three quarters of an inch with white ; of the centre 

 feathers the shafts are brown above the white tipping", and the 

 webs are pale rufous g'rej, with three faint circular white spots 

 on the outer, and one similar one on the inner webs. The four 

 next on either side have much the same g-rouud colour, but have 

 six large broad oval white spots on the outer web, whose major 

 axis forms an angle of 45'^ with the shaft ; while they have 

 eight very broad oval white spots (whose major axis is perpendi- 

 cular to the shaft) occupying" nearly the whole inner web and 

 becoming confluent at is margin. The exterior feather is similar, 

 but the spots on the outer web are much smaller, and are on the 

 margins of the feather. The intermediate varieties that occur 

 are almost endless, but no such tail as that figured by Mr. Gould 

 have I ever met with in any Indian bird, and I have now 

 examined closely more than fifty. First, there is the tail with 

 the two centre feathers (as in the bird first described) perfectly 

 spotless, but of a paler and sandier brown, but the lateral feathers 

 similar to those of the old birds as regards markings, except in 

 having these somewhat smaller. Then there are the plain brown 

 central feathers with one or two faint spots towards the tips as 

 in Schlegel's figure. (Traite de Fauconerie) ■. Then these same 

 plain brown feathers with five or six well marked perfectly circu- 

 lar white spots on the outer margin. Then the same with 

 smaller spots appearing on the inner webs ; then again with the 

 six spots on the inner web perfectly round, and those on the 

 outer web becoming ovate ; and then lastly the tail, the centre 

 feathers of which, bear six pairs of oval spots extending from the 

 shaft to near the edge of the feather. 



It is to be noticed that all the while the spots are being deve- 

 loped on the central feathers ; those on the lateral feathers are 

 becoming larger, more ovate, and more barlike ; those of the 

 inner web extending quite to the margin, and gradually becom- 

 ing confluent there. After the spottings of the central feathers 

 have reached their fullest development, they appear gradually, as 

 the bird grows older, to disappear, and though my oldest bird 

 still shows three small round spots on the outer and one on the 

 inner web of the central feathers, two of these are obviously 

 disappearing, and probably would before long have disappeared 

 entirely. 



As regards Mr. Gould^s figure, Birds of Asia, Part XX., I 

 wish to point out that independant of the barred tail, brown be 

 it observed barred with grey, a color that I have never seen on 

 the tail of an Indian saker ; no Indian bird with so brown a 

 mantle and with such narrow rufous edgings could possibly it 



