12(3 NOTES. 



mistake ; I received my own copy in sheets as printed off, and 

 on the first of these I wrote the date on which I received it, 

 which accordingly now stands in my copy as the date of the 

 whole part; but I find that the part as a whole was not issued 

 until quite the end of March. The first part issued either at the 

 end of February 1869, or during the first few days of March. 



I wish to suggest, for the consideration of Ornithologists, 

 whether Edward's plate of the little black and orange-coloured 

 Indian Hawk, No. 108 (Nat. Hist. Birds, Pt. III., p. 108) on 

 which Linnaeus founded his Falco ccerulescens may not have 

 been founded on a specimen of Microhierax melanoleucus, Bly th* 

 and not upon either eutolmus, Hodgs., {bengalensis, Blyth,) or 

 M. f ring Metritis, Drapiez, to one of which two species all orni- 

 thologists have hitherto referred Linnaeus' name. 



The great stumbling block in the way of the former of 

 these two accepted identifications is the entire absence of any 

 nuchal color, both in Edwards' plate and description, while as 

 regards the latter, the large size of Edward's bird, and his 

 omission to indicate alike in plate or letter press the conspicu- 

 ous black thigh patch, present almost equal difficulties. 



Now with one single exception (the colour of the lower parts) 

 melanoleucus, fits Edwards' 1 figure perfectly. There is no collar ; 

 which there is in eutolmus, there is the very narrow white 

 frontal band, and narrow white line, dividing the black eye 

 and ear patch from the black crown and occiput, just as shown 

 in the plate. Whereas out of 70 odd specimens of eutolmus, 

 not one, in which these lines are white, has them anything like 

 so narrow. Then again look at the barring of the under sur- 

 face of the tail in Edward's plate ; out of 60 Indian bengalensis, 

 not one has the tail thus marked, the barrings instead, of as in 

 Edward's figure approaching to within 0-4 of the extreme 

 tip, not approaching within from 0*75 to one inch of this. 



But the tail in melanoleucus, at least in the only specimens I 

 have been able to examine, corresponds closely with Edward's 

 figure. 



No doubt, in specimens of eutolmus from Pegu and Siam, 

 the markings descend nearer to the tips of the tail, and are 

 larger and more conspicuous as a rule; but in these too the 

 frontal band and collar are much broader, and there are other 

 differences, which lead me to believe that we shall be obliged to 

 separate them specifically ; but even in these the markings on 

 the tail are not of the shape and character of those represented 

 in Edwards' plate. 



* Described S. F., II., 525. 



