1,860.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 05 



AVES* 



Circus ? Female. Affined in general appearance to C. mujj- 



gexosus, but apparently distinct. Mr. Swinhoe writes — " I have at 

 last succeeded in procuring what I take to be the male of this spe- 

 cies, bluish-grey on the wings and white on the under-parts with a 

 few streaks. C. cyajs'eus is also common with us. 



Buxeo vulgaris, Bechstein ; B. vulgaris, var. japonicus, Tem- 

 minck and Schlegel (apud ISwinhoe), though why so distinguished I 

 cannot perceive. 



Milvus alelakotis ; Saliaetus melanotis, Gray, Hardw. 111. Ind. 

 Zool. Like M. goventja, Sjkes, but having a stouter beak, and the 

 plumage of the mature bird marked with pale streaks on the upper- 

 parts. 



Ctpselus ? Like C. afeenis, Gray, of India, but with the 



crown and tail conspicuously blacker, and the tail distinctly sub- 

 furcate. 



Cortus sinensis, Gould ; Horsfield, Ind. Mas. Catal., II, 556. 

 Exceedingly near to the common C. culminatus, Sykes, of India, 

 Burma, and the Malayan peninsula, but decidedly larger, and I now 

 doubt if either can be correctly identified with C. orientalis, Evers- 

 mann, of Middle Asia.f 



* For other Chinese hirds sent, vide Vol. XXVIII, p. 280. 



f C. obie>"Ta:li3 is thus distinguished by Prof. Eversmann from the European 

 C. cobone, of which latter the late Dr. Horsfield notes in his Catalogue two 

 specimens from Pushut, and also C. CORNIX from Mesopotamia and Afghanistan ! 



" Coevfs Coeone. Cceruleo ater, rostro modice acuminato, lined elevatd hori- 

 zontali infra nares, tomium in rostri medio attingente. 



" Cosvrs 0SIENTAXI3. Caruleo-ater, rostro valido, crassiusculo , incurvo, to- 

 miis continue invohitis, mandibulari apice recto, spatio inter nares et tomium max- 

 illare rotundato, Icevi. 



" JExemplai-ia mea circa fluvium Narym, ultra oppidam JBuchtarma, occisa sunt." 

 (Addenda ad celeberrimi Pallasii ZoograpJiiam Rosso-asiaticum. Fasciculus II, 

 A. D. 1841.) 



Over India generally and Ceylon, we have only C. ctjiminattjs and C. splen- 

 DEXS ; the latter found exclusively where there is a considerable human popu- 

 lation. It is only of late years that C. splendens has found its way into Ara- 

 kan ; but in Pegu there is a black race of it, and a nearly black race of it in 

 Ceylon. Mr. F. Moore, however, describes a C. tenuieosteis from Bombay. 

 " Plumage above glossy purple-black, palest on the head, neck, back, and body 

 beneath, and these having an ashy cast; forehead jet-black, and contrasting with 

 the ashy cast of plumage of the crown. Length 18 in.; of wing i%\ in.; tail 

 7 in. ; bill to gape 24 in. ; and tarse 2j in." 



C. cuLiriXATtrs we have received from Malacca, where it co-exists with C. 

 maceoehtnchos, Vieillot, a species with remarkably long and slender bill, mea- 

 suring 2 J in. to gape ; and this again appeal's to differ from C. ENCA, tlortffield, 



