312 SpizaeiMS Kienerii. 



men, tarsal ar.cl tibial plumes, vent and lower tail eoverts, brig-lit 

 ferruginous ; most of tbe feathers dark shafted, and many of 

 those of tbe wing- lining-, abdomen, and sides with a conspicu- 

 ous, narrovA^, black, shaft stripe, and a few of the feathers just 

 above the base of the tibia, verj broadly tipped with blackish 

 brown, forming- a very conspicuous patch. 



The bill in this species is much feebler than in any of ouf 

 other Indian Spizaeti, and instead of a well marked sinuation or 

 we might almost say blmit tooth, the margin in the upper 

 mandible is almost straight. The general shape too of the 

 bill is unlike that of the other species alluded to, for from 

 the very base of the cere, the bill commences to slope 'down 

 rapidly, instead of, as in the other species, the bill running 

 out straight for a certain distance and commencing to curve down- 

 wards only from the end of the cere. The head has something 

 of the falcon character al)Out it, and as regards coloration is a 

 facsimile of that of F. atriceps, nobis. The toes and claws are, 

 compared with the other Indian species of this genus^ long and 

 slender. 



I may note that a second specimen, also a female, obtained in 

 the same locality, differed in no material respect, from that 

 above described, except that it was a decidedly larger bird. Length 

 29; tail, 12-5; tarsus, 3-5. But the wing was barely 17, and 

 the bill was, if anything, feebler than that of the former. The 

 plumage differed only in having the dark bars on the lower 

 surface of the quills, and tail feathers more strongly marked, 

 and in having the black shaft stripes of the abdomen and sides 

 considerably broader than in the specimen first described. 



Two others, sexes not ascertained and measurements not re- 

 corded in the flesh, but with the wings 15*5 and 15,. and which 

 I therefore take for males, though everywhere duller and with 

 the bars more distinct on the tail and wrings (indications as 

 I believe of nonage), are of precisely the same type of colour- 

 ing. 



At page 201 of my Roug-h Notes, I mentioned an immature 

 specimen of an hawk eagle hitherto identified with this species, 

 as having been killed near Aberdeen, many years ago. This 

 specimen is figured in Jard. and Selb., 111. Oru., pi. 66. I 

 much doubt whether this specimen is Kienerii, at all ; if it be so, 

 it is in a stage of plumage altogether different to anything- 

 that I have seen, and it may be useful to reproduce the original 

 description. 



" The bill is black, the cere of a yellowish green colour, the 

 naked space between the bill and eyes, greenish black. The 

 forehead, throat, sides of neck, and whole of the under parts^ 



