128 



THE BIRDS OF PREY OF THE PUNJAB 



BY 



C. H. Donald, f.z.s. 



Part V. 



(Continued from page 1020 of Vol. XXVI.) 

 Type G. 



Family 



Subfamily 



Genus 



FALOONIDJE. 

 FALCONING. 



ClKCUS. 



tarsi under 3" ; 

 quills notched, 



No. 1233. Circus macruncs. The Pale Harrier. 

 Charaoteristics. Size medium, wing about 14V' ; 



Outer web of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, 

 but not of 5th. 



Colouration. Adult male. " Upper parts pale ashy grey, gener- 



ally, except in very old birds, more or less 

 tinged with brown on the crown, back, scapulars 

 and quills ; lores whitish ; forehead and above 

 and beneath the eye white ; ear-coverts pale grey 

 streaked with white ; the ruff behind the ear-coverts 

 differing in texture, but scarcely in colour. Pri- 

 maries ashy grey, 3rd, 4th, and 5th, black or 

 blackish-brown on part of the terminal half, some 

 black on 2nd and 6th, the basal portion of all 

 quills white ; upper tail coverts banded grey and 

 white, middle tail-feathers grey unbarred, the 

 others white, with grey bars ; lower parts white, 

 throat and upper breast with a faint grey tinge" 

 (Blanford). 



Adult female. " Above brown, feathers of head 

 and hind-neck broadly margined with rufous or 

 buff, and the smaller wing-coverts with broad pale 

 rufous borders ; forehead whitish, a buffy white 

 supercilium and patch below the eye ; moustachial 

 stripe and ear-coverts brown ; a well marked ruff 

 of small white or buff feathers with broad brown 

 shaft-stripes all round the neck, behind the ear- 

 coverts, and across the throat ; quills brown above 

 buff or whitish below, with blackish-brown cross- 

 bands on both sides ; upper tail-coverts white, 

 brown shaft-stripes or other markings ; middle 

 tail feathers brown, outer feathers buff' or rufous- 

 white, all with dark brown cross-bands. 



Lower parts white, with rufous-brown shaft- 

 stripes, broadest on the breast ; in old birds these 

 stripes become very narrow, especially on the 

 abdomen and lower tail-coverts. 



Young birds resemble the female above, except 

 that the feathers have, at first, rufous edges 

 throughout, there is a white nuchal patch with 



