426 NOTES ON FALCO ATRICEPS 



appears indistinctly in the tertials and also the lower scapu- 

 lars ; the primaries and secondaries are, as in F. atriceps, 

 except that the spaces between the transverse bars on the in- 

 ner webs are decidedly more rufous especially on the pri- 

 maries ; the interscapular region is of a blacker slate color 

 than in F. atriceps, and the transverse dark bars on the 

 feathers of that part are in consequence less conspicuous ; the 

 lower back and upper tail-coverts closely resemble those of 

 F. atriceps, but the tail is darker, and, except at the base and 

 on the inner web of the lateral rectrices, very much so, the 

 exposed portion of the rectrices being dark blackish brown 

 on their apical moiety, and the transverse bars, which are in- 

 distinct in the middle portion of the tail, becoming undistiu- 

 guishable towards its tip, which is nari'ow and rufous on the 

 lateral rectrices and apparently worn off from the central 

 pair ; the upper breast resembles that of the type of F. atri- 

 ceps, and the under wing-coverts and axillaries are crossed 

 with dark narrow bars as in F. atriceps, but these bars are 

 somewhat less regular, and the spaces between them are decid- 

 edly rufous, instead of a pale fawn color ; the remaining under 

 parts are a rich rufous, excepting that most of the abdominal 

 feathers have paler centres ; this portion of the plumage is 

 entirely immaculate, with the exception of a single blackish 

 brown feather on the lower breast, (probably a relic of imma- 

 turity,) of about seven small and rather ill-defined transverse 

 blackish marks averaging about a quarter of an inch in length 

 on either flank, and a few similar, but more indistinct bars, 

 across the lateral feathers of the under tail-coverts. This 



The female specimen from Ceylon, which was shot on Pigeon 

 Island on the 6th October 1874, closely resembles the male, 

 but the transverse bars on the lower scapulars are more dis- 

 tinct, and the pale portions of the upper tail-coverts are a 

 lighter grey than either in the Ce3'lon male or in the type of 

 F. atriceps. The tail is also somewhat less dark than in the 

 male, and shows ten black transverse bars, the last of which 

 is indistinct and subterminal, and is succeeded on all the rec- 

 trices by a white tip strongly tinged with rufous, and broader 

 than the corresponding tip in the male ; the under surface is 

 of a isber rufous than in the male, and the centres of the 

 abdominal feathers, though lighter than their tips, are much 

 less pale than in the male. The dark bars on the under wing- 



