198 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXII. 



were mixed up in the structure. It contained two young, about a couple 

 of days old, and one egg on the point of hatching off. This egg, which 

 was saved after a deal of trouble, measured 2-02" x 1'63". The ground 

 colour was a deep reddish-brown, heavily spotted and blotched with brick- 

 red. In addition to these markings, the large end had a few bold blotches 

 and splashes of deep liver-colour. 



The two young were clad in white down : their beaks and legs were 

 creamy white ; irides, light brown. 



On laying the two adult birds side by side, the differences in their 

 plumage and dimensions were so great that, anyone not acquainted with 

 their history would certainly assign them to different species. I sent this 

 unique pair of Falcons, shot off the same nest, to Mr. E. C. Stuart Baker, 

 for comparison with specimens in Europe, and he returned the skins with 

 the remark that he could make nothing of them ! 



Hume thought that the Himalayan birds constituted " a very distinct 

 race " owing to their cheek-stripes being fused into a black cap with the 

 black of the crown and nape. Now in my specimens the chief peculiarity 

 is that, while in the female the cheek-stripe is absolutely fused with the 

 black of the head and nape, in the male it is (juite distinct. His ear-coverts^ 

 which bridge the cheek-stripes and nape on either side, are a light sooty- 

 brown, with a good deal of white showing through. It is not safe to dog- 

 matise on the strength of a single case, but nevertheless with tha 

 evidence before me, I cannot help thinking that the clear " homogeneous 

 unbroken black cap " on which Hume laid so much stress, is due entirely to 

 age, and is not a peculiarity of these birds. The cheek-stripe in the female 

 measures Vl", while in the male it is only 1". 



Then again the colouration of the under and upper surfaces of the two 

 birds is totally different. The female is a deep ferruginous, especially 

 about the crop and sternum, and, excepting the crop, conspicuously barred 

 throughout some of the bars on the underwing coverts are fully "15" in 

 width. The male, on the other hand, has the corresponding parts a light 

 salmon, slightly darker on the sternum, and only very faintly barred, 

 except on the under wing-coverts, where these bars are darker. The upper 

 parts of the female (excluding head, nape, and upper back) are a dark 

 slatey-blue, and conspicuously barred with dusky slatey ; while these parts. 

 in the male are a light slatey-blue, especially the rump, and only faintly 

 barred. The female has only three or four very faint traces of fulvous on 

 her nape, a sign of age (Blanford, F. B. I. Aves, Vol. Ill, p. 415) ; while the 

 male has practically a rufous collar on the neck , indeed, the rufous 

 feathers extend in regular lines from the nape almost to the back of the 

 eyes, a sign of immaturity (Blanford, F. B. I. Aves, Vol. Ill, p. 415). 



Lastly, the dimensions of the two birds compare as follows : — 



6 L. 14-7"; Ex. 34-7; W. 11-25"; Tl. 6"; Bill from gape f-05"; 

 Ts. 1-85" ; Hind toe (without claw) 1-9" ; weight 1 lb. 



$ L. 17-1"; Ex. 39-5"; W. 13-35"; Tl. 7"; Bill 1-32"; Ts. 2", Hind 

 toe 2"; weight 2 lbs. 



Colours of soft parts (both male and female) : Bill, pale leaden blue,, 

 blackish at tip, greenish-yellowish at base ; cere, yellow ; orbital skin,, 

 yellow ; irides, dark-brown ; tarsi and feet, bright yellow ; claws, dark- 

 brown horny. 



In conclusion, it may be of some interest to mention that, from the iliac 

 regions of the bodies of these two Falcons, I removed an enormous mass of 

 parasitic worms resembling thin crumpled wire, and yellowish-whit^e ia 

 colour. 



P. T. L. DODSWORTH, f.z.s., m.b.o.u. 

 Simla, W,, 21si December 1912. 



