CIECUS MACEURUS. 



(THE PALE HARRIER.) 



Accipiter macrourus, S. G. Gmelin, N. Comm. Petrop. xv. p. 439, pis. viii. & ix. (1771). 



Circus swainsonii, Smith, S. Afr. Q. Journ. i. p. 384 (1830) ; Gray, Gen. B. i. p. 32 ; Kelaart's 

 Prodromus, Cat. p. 114; Layard, Ann. & Mag. N. H. 1853, xii. p. 104; Jerdon, Birds of 

 Ind. i. p. 96 ; Hume, Rough Notes, ii. p. 298 ; Holdsworth, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 413 ; Legge, 

 Ibis, 1874, p. 10, et 1875, p. 278; Dresser, Ibis, 1875, p. 109 (Severtzoff's Fauna of 

 Turkestan). 



Falco herbcecola, Tickell, J. A. S. B. 1833, p. 570. 



Circus pallidus, Sykes, P. Z. S. 1832, p. 80 ; Gould, B. of Europe, i. pi. 34 ; Hume, Stray 

 Feath. i. p. 160. 



Circus macrurus, Sharpe, Cat. Birds, i. p. 67 (1874). 



The Pallid Harrier of some writers ; Swainsons Harrier of others. 



Pale-chested Harrier in India. 



White Haivk, Paddy-field Hawk, in Ceylon. 



Dastmal, Hind.; Puna-Prdndu, Tarn., lit. "Cat-Kite;" Pilli-gedda, Tel., also "Cat-Kite." 



Boz-Sa, Turkestan, lit. " Grey Kite." 



Kurula-cjoya, Ukussa, Sinhalese. 



Adult male. Length to front of cere 17 - to 17'8 inches ; culmen from cere 0-72 ; wing 13 to 14, averaging about 

 13-7; expanse 42; tail 9-0 to 9-5, exceeding the closed wings from 1*5 to 3 - ; tarsus 2-5 to 2*8 ; middle toe 1-2 

 to 1-3, claw (straight) 0-6 to 0-65 ; height of bill at cere 0-38. 



Female. "Wing from 14-2 to 14-9 inches, averaging about 14 - 6. 



Male. Lis golden yellow, very rich in the oldest birds ; cere yellow, tinged with green above ; gape greenish yellow ; 

 bill blackish at top, paling to blue at cere ; legs and feet chrome-yellow ; claws black. 



Head and entire upper surface, including the wing-coverts, bluish ashy, the upper tail-coverts barred with white ; in 

 most examples, except the very oldest, there is a brownish wash on the nape and mantle ; primaries ashy grey, 

 the 3rd, 4th, and 5th more or less black, according to age, from the notch to the tip, and white from that part 

 along the inner web to the base ; secondaries ashy grey, tipped pale, and with their inner edges white : tail pale 

 grey, the three lateral feathers white, and all but the central pair banded with narrow grey bars ; forehead and 

 an ill-defined supercilium, chin, throat, under surface of body, and wings pure white ; throat, sides of neck, and 

 chest very pale bluish grey, blending into the white of the lower parts, and with the shafts darker than the webs ; 

 cheeks faintly striated with grey. 



Young male. Wing in the first year varying from 12-8 to 14-0 inches, quite equal to the adult. 



Iris greenish, or less bright yellow than in the adult ; cere and eyelid greenish yellow ; bill blackish horn-colour, bluish 

 near the cere ; legs and feet citron-yellow. 



Above chocolate-brown, with an angular white nuchal patch, and with the upper tail-coverts white, with terminal 

 rufous-brown spots ; the entire upper surface edged with rufous, narrowly on the head, more broadly on the hind 

 neck and lesser wing-coverts, and on the back and scapulars confined chiefly to the tips of the feathers ; quills 

 brown, the inner webs barred with darker colour, and the interspaces from the notch upwards buff ; a grey wash 

 on the outer webs of the primaries, and the tips, as well as those of the secondaries, pale fulvous ; tail drab-brown 

 on the centre feathers, changing on the three laterals to buff, the tip buffy white, and the whole, with the exception 



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