OF THE TRAVANCORE HILLS. 361 
Now this variation in the extent to which the tarsus is 
feathered is equally observable in plumipes (=japonicus), as will 
be seen from the following details of the specimens in my mu- 
seum. I note that in this list I have measured the bare portion of 
the tarsus, counting from near the tips of the tarsal plumes :— 
Length of Bare portion Locality. 
wing. of tarsus. 
rasa ae 14:3 Lf Travancore. 
3 2 14:4 15 Sikhim. 
5S 3d 14°5 16 Thyet Myo. 
= 4 6 14°6 cd Kotgurh, 
Se 5 14°6 1°2 Darjeeling. 
6S 6 14:8 1-4 Ditto. 
ES | 7 15 1-4 Native Sikhim. 
Sadie, 15°3 1:3 Gulmerg, Cashmir. 
5 9 15:3 15 Native Sikhim. 
= 10 15'5 15 N. of Masuri. 
= | 11 15:9 1:35 = Darjeeling. 
s 12 15°9 aL Native Sikbim. 
i 13 15°9 121 = N. of Masuri. 
eS | 14 15:9 1:2 Kotgurh. 
a hae 15-9 1: Kote Khaie. 
eet. 16 14:7 13 Native Sikhim. 
Sey ey 14:8 1-2 Ditto. 
pe een 15:1 1:3 Ditto. 
Bee 19 155 15 ‘Ditto. 
ais 1 20 15:5 1-1 Ditto. 
Eee, 2 15°6 1°6 Darjeeling. 
Now it will be observed that the wings vary from 14:3 to 
15:9; and the bare portion of the tarsus from 1 to 1:7; but 
it has to be noted, that the only two birds in which it exceeds 
1:5, are from Travancore and Thyet Myo, and in these the real 
difference mainly consists in the feathers being shorter and 
more worn, possibly to a certain extent the result of the 
warmer climate in which they were residing when killed. 
All these 21 birds are absolutely inseparable. _ Bill, legs, feet, 
plumage, dimensions have all been most carefully scrutinized. 
I have spent a whole day over them, and have not the slightest 
hesitation in asserting my conviction, that they all belong to 
one* species. 
In refusing to admit B. desertorum to a place in our avi fauna, 
I have not overlooked, that Mr. Sharpe in his catalogue (I, 
* Since this was written, Mr, W: F. Blanford has been staying with me, and I sub- 
mitted to him the whole of my Buzzards. He examined these 21 birds most carefully 
and laboriously, and he says that, like myself, he is unable to discover any single 
point by which they can be divided, or by which any one can be separated speci- 
tically from the rest. 
