56 PALE-CHESTED HARRIER. 



Measurement. — Length of adult male? in the Norwich Museum 

 seventeen inches; length of wing thirteen inches. 



We are indebted to Colonel Sykes for the determina- 

 tion of this species. He was not, however, aware, 

 when he published his paper in the Zoological 

 Transactions for 1832, that the bird occurred in Europe. 

 It had previously been confounded in India with C. 

 cyaneus, the Hen Harrier of British lists. Colonel 

 Sykes clearly pointed out the distinctions between the 

 two species, and which are abbreviated at the head of 

 this notice. Mr. Gould has a fine figure of the male 

 bird in his "Birds of Europe," but it deviates from 

 Colonel Sykes' type in having dusky streaks on the breast. 



M. Temminck appears to have been the first who 

 recorded the occurrence of this bird in Europe. Since 

 then it has turned up plentifully in Spain. It probably 

 had its head-quarters in Africa, being found accidentally 

 in France, Germany, and Italy. 



In modern days ornithologists have changed the venue 

 in regard to the charge of resemblance between Falco 

 cyaneus and F. pallidus. The latter is now held to be 

 so nearly like F. cineracejous, (Montagu's Harrier,) that 

 Schlegel denies its specific distinction from that bird. 

 I am at a loss, however, to comprehend how such an 

 opinion has been arrived at by so eminent a naturalist 

 as Schlegel. The decided marks of distinction pointed 

 out by Temminck and Colonel Sykes, particularly the 

 bars on the rump, and the number of specimens that 

 have been taken both in Europe, Africa, and Asia, all 

 having the distinctive characters alluded to, form, I 

 think, sufficient evidence to settle the claim of this bird 

 to the position assigned to it by all naturalists, with 

 the exception of M. Schlegel. 



