150 
SECOND YARKAND MISSION. 
The above is a description of a young bird from Asia Minor, and specimens in aim 08 
identical plumage are in the Hume Collection, obtained in the Sirsa district during the col 
weather. It is evident that the more definitely spotted plumage of the chest is gained by ll 
change of pattern in the feathers rather than by a moult, the brown colour becoming 
tegrated near the base of the feathers and disappearing gradually, so as to leave a terrain^ 
spot of brown ; the flank-feathers also undergo considerable alteration in the pattern of f 
brown colour, which is much encroached upon by the white markings of the inner web. 
tbe same time the head becomes gradually lighter and the brown stripes narrower; ^ ie 
feathers of the upper parts are margined with rufous, and the round spots on the tail are wU r 
characteristic. I believe that these spots make their appearance gradually on the tail wit i* 
out a moult, and that they are seen in the first autumn of the bird’s life. 
Several specimens in the Hume Collection arc moulting, and it is interesting to note 
that, as is often the case with other Accipitres, the new feathers on the chest are identical 10 
pattern with those of the worn plumage which preceded them — that is to say, that the brown 
markings of the chest-plumes have already altered from the longitudinal form to theternnna 
spot, and that the newly-moulted feathers commence with the latter form. The dorsal plumes 
ai*e greyish with rufous edges. 
The older the bird, the more rufous does it become on its upper surface ; the tail sh°n 
numerous spots and bars, the former being on the outer web and the latter on the inner wc 
The centre tail-feathers appear to be more or less uniform, showing a return to the condit 1011 
of the first plumage. 
The following is a list of the specimens now in the Collection of the British Museum • 
a. $ juv. sk. 
South Hungary. 
A. Baron von Huge 1 - 
b. J uv. sk. 
Asia Minor. 
Old Collection. 
c, d. d ad. sk. 
River Volga. 
Seebohm Coll. 
Dr. R. B. Sharpe [A '- 1 
e. <3 imm. sk. 
South Ural. 
f. (3 ad. sk. 
Bala Morghab, N. Afghanistan, Dec. 14. 
Dr. Aitchison [C-]- 
ff. 3 ad. sk. 
Mehar, Upper Sindh, Jan. 16, 1872 (A. 0. II.). 
Hume Coll. 
h-w. Ad. et imm. sk. 
Sirsa district, Punjab, Cold Season, 1870-71. 
Hume Coll- 
x. $ ad. ; y-d'. $ ad. et imm. 
sk. 
e'-i, d ad. et imm. sk. 
Sirsa district, Oct. 1867-70. 
Hume Coll- 
Sirsa district, Nov. 1869-71. 
Hume Coll- 
k'. ? ad. sk. 
Sirsa district, Dec. 21, 1869. 
Hume Coll. 
V, m' , n'. d $ ad. sk. 
Sirsa district, Jan. 1871-72. 
Hume Coll. 
o'. $ ad. sk. 
Sirsa district, Feb. 3, 1870. 
Hume Coll. 
p',g'. d imm.; r'j s'. 9 ad. et 
imm. sk. 
Sirsa district, March 1870. 
Hume Coll. 
t' . 9 imm. sk. 
Lahore, Dec. 13, 1869 (C. II. T. Marshall). 
Flume Coll- 
u'. 9 ad. sk. 
Bahawalpur, Nov. 27, 1867 (C. II. T. M.). 
Hume Coll. 
v 1 . Imm. sk. 
Sultanpur, Gurgaon district, Dec. 31, 1878 
( W . N. Chill) . 
Hume Coll. 
w'. Ad. sk. 
Mussooree (C. Wilson). 
Hume Coll. 
x'. d ad. sk. 
Dhurous, Mainpuri, Feb. 28, 1876 (A. Anderson). 
Seebohm Coll- 
y' , z' . Imm. sk. 
Nepal. 
Ilodgson Coll- 
Of the distinctness of Hierofalco milvipes, Hodgs. (II. hendersoni , Hume), from 
there can no longer he any question. Unlike II. sa/eer, which seems to get lighter on 
