432 NOTES ON FALCO ATKICEPS 



only some feathers of the upper tail-coverts are edged with 

 rufous, and those but slightly, but some of these feathers show 

 from two to three rufescent spots on each web ; the under 

 surface is less richly tinged with rufous than in either of the 

 Madras birds, and some of the abdominal feathers show two 

 brown transverse bars across both webs in addition to the 

 shaft mark. 



In the same collection is another female, also from Northern 

 India, where it was obtained by Captain Marshall in a state 

 of plumage almost precisely similar to the last-named example, 

 but with scarcely any indication of spots on the outer webs of 

 the tertials, and with no transverse bars on the abdomen. 

 These two females respectively measure : — 



Wing ... ... 13-1 to 13-2 



Tarsus ... ... 19 to 1-9 



Mid-toe S. W. ... ... 2-1 to 22 



The third Madras specimen, lent to me by Mr. Hume, is 

 marked as a female, but has a shorter wing than is usual in 

 that sex, its measurement being : — 



Wing ... ... 121 



Tarsus ... ... 1-9 



Mid-toe S.W. ... ... 2-1 



The upper surface of this specimen much resembles that of 

 Mr. Hume's second Madras bird, but the brown tints of the 

 mantle are somewhat more faded ; some of the rufous edgings 

 of the nestling plumage remain to a slight extent on the 

 wing-coverts, and the rufous markings on the tail are de- 

 cidedly more distinct ; but the under surface indicates, if 

 I mistake not, a nearer approach to maturity than exists 

 in either of the other two Madras specimens. This consists 

 in the contraction in width of the longitudinal dark shaft 

 marks on the breast and abdomen, and is especially noticeable 

 on the basal portion of the shaft mark, tending to reduce 

 the apical moiety of the mark to a guttate spot, particularly, 

 but by no means exclusively, on the upper breast, where a few 

 new feathers are also visible, more rufous than their predeces- 

 sors,and entirely whole colored and spotless ; a few new feathers 

 of a similar character may likewise be detected on the 

 thighs. 



A male, closely resembling the last-mentioned specimen and 

 with similarly contracted sternal and abdominal shaft marks, 

 but without any assumption of new feathers, is preserved in the 

 Norwich Museum. In this specimen the tail is a whole colored 

 dark brown, excepting a rufous tip and slight rufous markings 



