AVES. 11 



alpine breeding-places. The nest near Vernoe was on a pine {Finns schrenMana) at a height 

 of 8000 feet above the sea." 



Genus HIEROFALCO. 



20. HiERorALCO GYRFALCO. (Plate I.) 



Hierofalco gyrfalco (L.) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. i. p. 416 (1874). 

 Falco gyrfalco, Homeyer & Tancre, MT. orn. Ver. Wien, 1883, p. 82. 



No. 1744, $ juv. Tarkand, May 15, 1874. 



This is a young bird doubtless, which I expected to prove to be one of the forms of 

 Jerfalcon separated by Dr. Menzbier, but the immaturity of the specimen prevents any exact 

 comparison with the species figured by him. The accompanying Plate by Mr. Keulemans 

 gives a very good portrait of the Yarkand specimen, which, as far as I can see, is not different 

 from European skins of Sierofalco gyrfalco. Dr. Stoliczka's diary does not give any par- 

 ticulars of the individual, nor does it state whether the bird had been captured in a wild state 

 or had been used for hawking. 



As far as I can see there is no difference between the Yarkand bird and true 

 ^- OV'^^'fa^co, and I cannot understand what S, U7''alensis of Menzbier can be, for the adult 

 white bird figured by him (Orn. Turkest. pi. v.) is undoubtedly H. candicans ! 



21. HlEHOPALCO MILYIPES. 



Falco milvipes, Hodgs. in Gray^s Zool. Misc. p. 81 (1844), descr. nulla ; Jerdon, Ibis, 1871 (April), p. 240. 

 Falco hendersoni, Hume, Ibis, 1871 (October), p. 407; id. & Henders. Lahore to Yark. p. 171, pi. 1 (1873) ; 



Scully, Str. F. iv. p. 117 (1876) ; Prjev. in Rowley's Orn. Misc. ii. p. 149 (1877) ; Severtz. Ibis, 



1883, p. 53. 



This species I considered in 1874 to be the final stage of plumage of the old Hie^^q/alco 

 sacer, but I now think this was a mistake, and am inclined to recognize S. milvipes as a 

 good species. Dr. Henderson writes: — ''A single specimen, a male, of this species, which 

 Mr. Hume considers to be the Shanghar of Eastern Palconers, was shot on the 14th of 

 September, 1870, at Kitchik Yilak in undulating country just north of the Sanju Pass, and 

 40 miles from Sanju, where the plains of Yarkand may be said to commence. There are no 

 trees or bushes about ; but the climate here is comparatively moist, and there is abundance of 

 short grass, on the borders of which thousands of the Tibetan Snow- Pheasant [Tetraogallus 

 tihetanus) were observed. Other Palcons, apparently of this species, were noticed in the 

 immediate neighbourhood, but it was never seen elsewhere, and only one specimen was 

 obtained." 



Dr. Scully obtained a female at Kashghar, November 1874. He adds : — " The Turki 

 name of this bird is ' Aitalgu/ and all competent authorities in such matters in Kashgharia 

 assert positively that it is the female of the famed ' Shunkar.' The bird is rare in Eastern 

 Turkestan, but is said to be a permanent resident and to breed there. I heard that it was 

 occasionally obtained in the Dolan forest-region — in the direction of Aksu ; from the district 

 of Lob ; from the hills near Sanju ; and from the neighbourhood of Karchung, south-west of 

 Yarkand. The ' Shunkar ' is the most highly prized of all the Ealcons, and whenever one is 

 caught it is at once taken to the Amir, the Dad Khwah of Yarkand, or the Governor of the 

 district ; the ' Aitalgu ' is not at all prized, and is considered hardly worth training. An 

 experienced old Yarkandi bird-catcher, in looking at the pictures in my copy of ' Lahore to 

 Yarkand ' one day, fixed on the plate of Falco Jiendersoni and said at once that it was a 

 representation of the Shunkar. Perfectly white Shunhar (albinos) were mentioned to me." 



c2 



