on Dr. Jerdon’s ‘ Birds of India. ’ 245 
that catalogue (1863), however, Mr. Gray unites B. leucocephala 
with B. ferox , and B. aquilinus with Archibuteo strophiatus, 
Hodgson, the latter being decidedly identical with Hieraetus 
pennatus ! The specimen which I described as aquilinus (J. A. S. 
B. xvi. p. 176) was sent by Mr. Hodgson as his Butaquila leu¬ 
cocephala ; but as it had not a sign of white about the head, I 
suggested to that gentleman the better name aquilinus from its 
robust form. Either this or B. plumipes can hardly be other 
than Falco asiaticus of Latham. His description on the whole 
applies better to the former, while the “ half-feathered legs ( pedi - 
bus semilanatis) ,> preclude its identification with B. ferox. Both 
this species and the next have the tarsi feathered halfway 
down; while in Archibuteo hemiptilopus (no. 49) the tarsi are 
plumed to the toes in front and externally, and are bare and 
scutellated behind. 1 suspect that both B. asiaticus and A. he¬ 
miptilopus inhabit chiefly the Mongolian region, and should be 
considered stragglers anywhere away from it. 
47. Buteo plumipes, Hodgson; B. japonicus, Schlegel 
(Faun. Japon. Aves , tab. vi. and vii. b). 
Mr. Hodgson’s specimen in the British Museum is certainly 
of a uniform dark brown; but most Buzzards vary exceedingly 
in colour, and I see no reason why B. japonicus should not be 
identified with B. plumipes , notwithstanding that Mr. Swinhoe 
expressly asserts that the former “ never acquires the dark 
plumage of the adult” of B. vulgaris (P. Z. S. 1863, p. 260). 
Only that one specimen was procured by Mr. Hodgson; so 
that undoubtedly it must be considered an exceedingly rare 
straggler within the area of his researches. My B. pygmceus 
(J. A. S. B. xiv. p. 217), which Dr. Jerdon thought was not 
unlikely to prove identical with plumipes , is the same as Polior- 
nispoliogenys (Falcopoliogenys, Temm. PI. Col. 235 ; Eaun. Ja¬ 
pon. Aves, tab. vii. b, where it is designated Buteo pyrrho- 
genys , lapsu calami , as also in Jerdon’s Appendix). An interest¬ 
ing notice of this species is given in the Ornithological Report 
accompanying the narrative of Commodore Perry’s Exploring 
Expedition to the China Seas and Japan. As many as four of the 
Falconidce figured in the 1 Fauna Japonica ’ (as I identify them) 
