6 A FIRST LIST OF THE BIRDS 



stripes more marked. The entire occiput and nape washed 

 with pale chestnut. The entire wing-coverts, except primary 

 greater coverts, tertiaries, scapulars, interscapulary regiou 

 and upper back, rich chestnut ; the lai-ge coverts, tertiaries and 

 scapulars with tolerably broad blackish brown transverse bars, 

 reduced on the upper back and interscapulary region to nar- 

 row arrow head imperfect bars or spots and almost entirely 

 wanting on the lesser and median coverts. 



Lower back, rump and upper tail-coverts pure French grey. 

 Tail pinky chestnut, with a greyish tinge, tipped white, with an 

 inch broad subterminal black band, and seven or eight other 

 narrow transverse blackish bars. 



Primaries and their greater coverts, and secondaries dark 

 brown, almost black on the primaries. The primaries excessively 

 narrowlv, the secondaries narrowbv, margined with brownish 

 white; both secondaries and primaries with numerous rufous 

 or rufescent white bar-like more or less triangular spots on the 

 inner webs and most of the secondaries with corresponding irre- 

 gular oval rufous spots on the outer webs also. 



The breast chestnut, but not so dark as the back ; each feather 

 on the upper portion with a blackish shaft stripe and on the 

 lower portion of the breast with a more or less oval or cordate 

 subterminal blackish spot ; abdomen paler aud yellower, simi- 

 larity marked. Thigh coverts aud lower tail-coverts almost pure 

 white and unspotted. 



Wing lining, except the greater lower coverts, white, spot- 

 ted like the lower part of the breast. Greater lower wing coverts 

 white, with one or two black subterminal bars. 



If this specimen really is Pekinensis it is in a stage of plu- 

 mage that has not hitherto been described. 



19.— Erythropus amurensis, Badde. 



" I secured an adult male of the Eastern Red-legged Hobby in 

 February 1875. I did not again observe it till October the same 

 year, when one morning I came across some hundreds of them 

 hawking over a piece of land which had been lately planted Avith 

 tea. I secured five of them, and on dissecting them I found 

 they had been feeding on crickets, grass-hoppers, beetles, and 

 small lizards. During November they were seen in hundreds 

 every day gvrating at a great height all over the country ; they 

 disappeared about the middle of December. This year, 1876 

 they again returned, I saw about fifty of them on the 14th of 

 October, and a few days afterwards they were swarming in every 

 direction. When they settle, they generally chose a bare tree 

 in the open, and often two or three hundreds may be seen on the 

 same tree. 



