MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 809 



b' Tarsus two-thirds feathered, naked part in front 



reticulated B, leucocephalua. 



(The Upland Buzzard.") 



b. Wing less than 16 inches B . desertorum. 



(The Common Buzzard.) 

 The only representative in India of Archihuteo is A. hemiptilopus, the 

 Himalayan Kough-legged Buzzard, and it is by no means a common 

 bird. 



The Buzzards are, for the most part, heavy sluggish birds, fonder 

 of sitting on trees and looking out for frogs and lizards than soaring 

 like the Eagles. 



The colouration of the Buzzard is very variable ; different specimens of the 

 same species being very unlike each other, and it does not in the least follow, 

 that, if a bird has the dark plumage, it is a young bird, as it would do in the 

 generality of accipitrine birds, for there appears to be no distinctive young 

 plumage in the Buzzards. 



Before dealing with the typical hawks and falcons used for falconry, I shall 

 take up the two genera Pernis and Basa. 



''Pernis cristatus, the Crested Honey- Buzzard, can easily be distinguished 

 " from all other accipitrine birds, by having the lores and sides of the head, 

 " like the forehead and chin, covered with small scale-like feathers, without 

 ** any bristles or bristly ends. This dense covering probably serves as a 

 "protection against the stings of bees and wasps, the combs and young of 

 " which form the principal food of this genus.'' There is but the one species 

 of this genus in India. 



The only Indian species of the genus Machcerhamplms, M. alcinus, the 

 Slender-billed Pern, which is similar to P. cristatus in that it has its lores 

 densely feathered, might easily be distinguished as follows : — 



P. cristatus : Loral feathers scale-like ; bill not much compressed. Size 



large, 25 to 27 inches. 

 M. alcinus: Loral feathers not scale-like; bill excessively compressed, 

 culmen sharp. Size small, 18 inches. 

 Genus Baza. 

 This genus comprises 3 species but they are not likely to be con- 

 fused with any other of the Falconidce as the long nuchal crest separates 

 them at once. 



In my last paper, on page 593, I showed the differences between Spizaiitus, 

 the Crested Hawk-Eagles, and Baza. 



Baza — Key to the Species. 



a. Upper plumage chiefly black ; 3rd quill longest B. lophotes. 



(The Black-crested Baza). 



6. Upper plumage brown ; 4th quill longest, 



a', Sides of throat rufous in adults ; wing 1.3" B. jerdoni 



(Blyth's Baza), 



