279 
Letters , Announcements , fyc. 
men, which was ascertained by dissection to be a male, I 
think it probable that the present bird is a female; in its 
markings and general coloration this example agrees closely 
with the type, except that it shows indications of more ad¬ 
vanced plumage on the feathers of the back and on the lower 
scapulars, which are slightly tinged with dark grey, also on the 
primary-coverts, primaries, secondaries, and bastard wing, all 
of which show more or less of a clear grey colouring crossed 
with darker transverse bars. 
If I am right in considering this specimen a female, 
these appearances of incipient grey coloration make it pro¬ 
bable that the two sexes in this Harrier (and probably also 
in the nearly allied C. maillardi) do not differ in plumage 
when fully adult. 
I now consider that I have examined three Madagascar 
specimens of Circus macroscelus, of which the following are 
the principal measurements :— 
Wing from 
carpal joint. 
Tarsus. 
in. 
in. 
Male, immature, type specimen in Norwich 
Museum, vide Ibis, 1863, p. 358, & 1875, 
p. 231 (wings abraded) . 
15 
3-85 
Presumed male, adult, in British Museum, 
vide Ibis, 1875, p. 230, and Sharpe in 
P. Z. S. 1875, p. 73. 
169 
3-55 
Presumed female, immature, in the collec¬ 
tion of E. Newton . 
17*9 
3-9 
A comparison of these measurements with those of the 
Joanna and Reunion Harriers, which I have previously re¬ 
corded (i antea , p. 129), leads me to believe that the Mada¬ 
gascar and Joanna Harriers are probably identical, whilst 
those of Reunion are decidedly smaller; I therefore consider 
that the specific name of Circus macroscelus may be conve¬ 
niently retained for the two first, and that of Circus mail¬ 
lardi restricted to the last. 
I am, &c., 
J. H. Gurney. 
