1836.] New Species of Falconidaz. 220 



der plumed tarsi of Limnosetus, and the long, acute, and unequal talons 

 of the noblest hawks and falcons, to which moreover they assimilate 

 in their manners, adhering exclusively to the wilds, and killing their 

 own prey, which consists of pigeons, jungle fowls, and partridges. 



Species Nipalensis, mihi. Habitat, the lower hills and Saul forest. 



This species is liable to vary very considerably in colour, and is 

 sometimes found possessed of a drooping egret-like crest of two long, 

 narrow, composed plumes. I have several specimens, procured with- 

 in the past 1 years ; but, as I cannot venture to determine the diver- 

 sities of appearance with reference to sex and age and season, I shall 

 describe a bird in each of the more striking aspects it presents. 



1st. This is the uncrested and paler aspect. The head, the neck, 

 the whole body below, with the basal and interior parts of the plu- 

 mage above, are white ; the wings, back, and tail, brown. 



The crown of the head, and the dorsal face of the neck, have a pale 

 fawn-coloured smearing. The cheeks, chin, and throat are immacu- 

 late ; the head, neck, and body, below marked lengthwise, with narrow 

 lines of saturate brown. The thighs are transversely barred with 

 pale fawn; and the plumes of the tarsi, with the lower tail coverts, are 

 unmarked. Several of the lesser wing coverts are broadly margined 

 with white. The wings and tail have seven cross bars of saturate 

 brown, which are vaguely seen above — clearly on the pale inferior 

 surface. The lining of the wings is white, with here and there a 

 heart-shaped brown mark. 



2nd. In this, the darker and crested form, the head and neck are 

 brown, with broad white margins, — a change caused by the expansion 

 of the central streaks of No. 1. The cheeks and chin have a triple 

 longitudinal marking of brown, one line proceeding from the chin 

 down the throat, and one from either side of the gape over the cheeks. 

 The transverse bars of the thighs are darker, being brown leather than 

 rufous, and they are extended over the tarsi and inferior tail coverts. 

 Lastly, from the back part of the head proceed two long, narrow, com- 

 posed plumes of brown colour, forming a very graceful pendant crest. 



In both birds, the bill is blue at the base, black at the tip ; the cere, 

 greenish yellow ; the iris, golden ; the toes yellow, and the nails, black. 

 The largest specimen procured by me is 29 1 inches long and 60 wide i 

 the smallest is 25 inches long and 49| wide. The former weighed 

 4 lbs., the latter, 2 lbs. 12 oz. The intestines vary in length from 46 

 to 50 inches. There are two small coeca : the gut is much more 

 capacious above than below. The stomach, though, of course, of 

 the solvent type, has a thickish sub-muscular outer coat, and there 

 are soft ridges along its inner surface. 



