1S37.] On some new Genera of Rapt ores. 361 



V. — On sotne new Genera of Raptores, with remarks on the old genera. 

 By B. H. Hodgson, Esq. 



I have the honor to submit, herewith, some original and amended 

 generic characters of new forms of Raptores which have been described 

 particularly in various numbers of your Journal. Those who are best 

 acquainted with the present state of classification in regard to the 

 Falconic/ce and Strigida; will, I apprehend, be most ready to make 

 allowance for any possible imperfections cleaving to these characters. 



Family Falconid^j. Sub-family Aquiline. Genus Nisaelus, nob. 



Bill short*, at base as high as broad, distinguished by compression 

 without feebleness, strongly festooned. Nares large, vertical, elliptic, 

 angulated, and wholly lateral in exposure. Wings short, firm ; 5th 

 quill longest. Tail long, firm, and square. Tarsi elevate, but not 

 feeble, wholly feathered. 



Digits elongated, nervous; the inner fore and the hind highly 

 developed. 



Acropodia reticulate with three or four scales next each talon, 

 Talons immense, very unequal, strong and acute. Head usually 

 crested. 



Types, N. Puhhsr, No. 680; N. Nipalensis, No. 9; N. Pallidus 

 No. 8 ; N. Grandis, No. 7, nobis. 



Habits. Preys on jungle fowl, partridges, hares : watches from a 

 lofty perch, usually pouncing on its game when near it; sometimes 

 pursues with energy on the wing ; flight direct ; does not seize on the 

 wing. Habitat, said forest, Tarai, and lesser hills. Not migratory; 

 size rather large. Connects the most typical hawks with the most 

 typical eagles. Digits and talons pre-eminently raptorial. 



Falconinje. Genus Baza, nob. 



Bill as in lerax, but somewhat longer and more compressed before 

 the cere. Upper mandible with two long sharp teeth on either side, 

 close to each other and to the hook, and directed forwards. Lower 

 mandible with three or four smaller teeth correspondent to the above. 

 Orbits and lores thickly and softly plumed. Nares transverse, rimi- 

 form, with the cere behind them membranous and free. Legs and 

 feet short and thick. Tarsi half plumed, coarsely reticulate, longer 

 than any digit. Toes cleft and depressed : the laterals subequal ; the 

 inner longer than the outer ; the hind large. Acropodia wholly 



* Short with reference to the sub-family : and so of all the generic terms sub- 

 sequently employed ; for instance, ears small and simple, in reference to scops, 

 as a genus of the sub-typical group of Slriyida. 



