436 NOTES ON FALCO ATRICEPS 



plumage, but that in the immature as in the adult birds, there 

 is much individual variation, the limits of which it would be 

 difficult to define, and probably impossible to formulate by 

 rules that would apply accurately in every case. 



Possibly opportunities may hereafter occur of bringing up 

 young birds from the nest, and of thus ascertaining to what 

 extent the peculiarities which distinguish the different adult 

 phases of plumage in these Falcons are hereditary and constant, 

 and to this point I would venture to solicit the attention of 

 Indian Ornithologists. 



P.S. — Since writing the above, I have had an opportunity 

 of consulting the late Dr. Jerdon's "Illustrations of Indian 

 Ornithology/'' published at Madras in 1847, and also the late 

 Colonel Tickell's M.S. " Indian Ornithology," presented by the 

 author to the Zoological Society. 



Dr. Jerdon figures two specimens of F. peregrinator, an im- 

 mature male and an adult female, the latter closely resembling 

 on the cheeks and under parts Mr. Hume's female shot by 

 Mr. Brooks near Allahabad in March 1865, to which I have 

 already referred. Kespecting this specimen. Dr. Jerdon writes 

 as follows : — " The present figure was taken from a living trained 

 female in my possession that had completed one moult ; the 

 subsequent changes consist in the whole of the spots on the 

 lower surface gradually disappearing, and in the upper plumage 

 becoming lighter and more slaty in hue." 



Col. Tickell also figures an immature bird and an adult 

 female, with a note appended, " Date and locality not noted.^' 

 But I think there can be little doubt that his descriptions and 

 figures were taken from Tenasserim specimens, as they are 

 accompanied by the following remark : — " I have frequently 

 observed it on the seaside, at Amherst (Tenasserim), where 

 two or three pairs breed every cold season, building on high 

 gurjon oil-trees along the shore. In India I have never met 

 Avith it." 



The probable locality of the specimens referred to by CoL 

 Tickell adds to their interest, and I have therefore extracted his 

 description of an adult male and female : — 



Male.— Length ... 15" Wing ... lOf Tail ... 5^ 

 .Female.— Length... 18|" Wing ... 13^" Tail ... Ci" 



Color. — Male and female adult, iris sepia ; bill bluish neutral 

 with black tip ; lids, cere and legs yellow ; claws black ; crown 

 and occiput with nape for a little way ashy black ; frontals 

 close to beak, a narrow supercilium, and all the face, throat, 

 and neck white : a black vertical band from the eve down each 



