A C C I P I T R E S. 

 FALCON ID2E. 



ACCIPITRIN^E. 



Genus CIRCUS. 



Bill accipitrine, short, moderately robust, compressed, high at the base, the culmen curved 

 gradually from the base of the cere to the hooked tip ; margin slightly festooned. Nostrils large, 

 oval, placed forward in the cere, and protected by the bristles of the lores. Wings long and 

 pointed, the 3rd and 4th quills subequal and longest. Tail long, even or rounded at the tip. 

 Tarsus long, subequal with the tibia, slender, covered in front with transverse, behind with large 

 reticulated scutee, plumed a little below the knee. Toes slender, the outer and the middle 

 connected at the base by a membrane ; the middle toe about half the length of the tarsus ; inner 

 toe short ; claws much curved and very acute. Lower part of face surrounded by a ruff of thick- 

 set feathers, forming a partial disk. 



CIECUS ^KUGINOSUS. 



(THE MARSH-HARRIER.) 



Falco ceruginosus, Linn. S. N. i. p. 130 (1766). 



Falco rufus, Gm. S. N. i. p. 266 ; Yarr. Brit. B. i. p. 90. 



Circus ceruginosus, Savign. Syst. Ois. Egypte, p. 90 (1809); Gray, Gen. B. i. p. 32; Schl. 



Vog. Nederl. pis. 20-22 ; Jerdon, B. of Ind. i. p. 99 ; Gould, B. Gt. Br. pt. xiii. ; Hume. 



Rough Notes, ii. p. 314 ; Holdsworth, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 414 (first record from Ceylon) ; 



Sharpe, Cat. Birds, i. p. 69; Legge, Ibis, 1874, p. 10, 1875, p. 278, 1876, p. 126; 



Scully, Str. Feath. 1876, p. 126. 

 he Busard roux, Brisson, also Le Busard de Marais. 

 Moor-Buzzard, Albin, Birds, i. pi. 3 (1731), also popularly in England; '■'Harpy" of some 



writers ; Swamp-Hawk, Paddy-jield Hawk, Sportsmen in Ceylon. 

 Mat-cMl, Beng., lit. "Meadow-Kite"; Sufeid Sira of Mussulmen in Bengal (apud Jerdon). 

 Akhash-Sd, Turkestan, lit. " White-headed Kite." 

 Kurula-goya, Sinhalese ; Prdndu, Tam. 



Adult male and female. Length to front of cere 2O0 to 21-25 inches ; culmen from cere TO to T21 ; wing 15-5 to 16 - 6 : 

 tail 8-5 to 9-5 ; tarsus 3-2 to 3-9 ; mid toe 1-9 to 2-0, claw (straight) 0-8 to 0-9 ; height of bill at cere 0-43 to 0-45. 



Obs. There is no constant difference in the size of males and females, some of the former equalling if not exceeding the 



largest of the latter. 

 Iris golden yellow, cere yellow; bill black; base of under mandible, legs, and feet yellow; claws black. 



