BUTEO. 125 



absolute confidence to its identity, but do not think lam mistaken. 

 I had two good views of it before firing. lu rising out of the 

 nest it dropped down to within a few feet of the ground, close to 

 where I stood, which enabled me to see its back quite distinctly, 

 and a few minutes after it returned overhead, when I wounded it. 

 " The nest contained four partially-incubated eggs." 

 The eggs sent by Mr. Gammie were of the usual Accipitrine 

 type, moderately broad regular oval eggs, with a fine compact, but 

 entirely glossless shell. The ground was a dead white, but very 

 much soiled and stained by the droppings of the birds. One egg 

 was covered about the large end with several huge blotches and a 

 number of good-sized spots of a dark umber-brown, with only a 

 few specks and spots of the same colour about the rest of the 



A second egg was similar, except that in this all the markings 

 were about the small end. 



A third egg had only one moderate- sized blotch and a few spots 

 of the dark colour about the large end, but the greater portion of 

 the larger end was clouded with dull, pale, subsurface-looking 

 purplish brown, and there were splashes and streaks of the same 

 colour in other parts of the eggs. 



The fourth egg had no dark-coloured markings at all, only 

 numerous specks and spots and little blotches of a very pale 

 greyish purple. 



The eggs varied from 1'53 to 1'56 in length, and from 1'18 to 

 1"2 in breadth. 



Colonel Legge says : — " In Ceylon this Hawk breeds about the 

 month of May, during which I once procured a female containing 

 an egg almost ready for expulsion." 



Mr. H. Parker also writes from Ceylon : — " One nest of this 

 Sparrow-Hawk, found in June, was situated on a small tamarind- 

 tree overhanging the main road. It was about 35 feet from the 

 ground in a vertical fork among the small twigs on the top of the 

 tree, and in appearance resembled the ruins of a Crow's nest. It 

 was constructed of small sticks and twigs, without any lining, and 

 was a very thin, ragged structure : all but the centre could be seen 

 through. It was about 18 inches wide exteriorly, and the saucer- 

 shaped egg-cavity was 9 inches across. It contained one 

 nestling." 



Subfamily BUTEONINtE. 



Buteo ferox (S. G-. G-mel.). The Long-legged Buzzard. 



Buteo canescens, Hodgs., Jerd. B. Ind. i, p. 88. 



Buteo ferox (Gm.), Hume, Mouyh JDraft N. Sr E. no. 45. 



The Long-legged Buzzard is said to breed in the North-West 

 Punjab, and certainly breeds in the interior of the Himalayas 

 west of the Ganges, as in Bussahir, Kooloo, and Kashmere. 



