Ts 
Letters, Announcements, &c. 127 
quenting chiefly the west and south-west maritime regions. 
I have shot it, however, in the south-east and in the north of 
the island. Itismore numerous in some years than in others. 
In 1872 I met with more birds than before or since that year ; 
and I then got a fine series of young birds in all stages of the 
immature luteous head-dress ; no two birds were alike. There 
appears to be an intermediate stage (that of the second year) 
between yearling birds, with the buff head and throat, yel- 
lowish chest, point of wing, patch over the elbow, and dark 
tail, and those handsome examples (evidently in the third year) 
in which the buff striated plumage of the head extends down 
on to the back and over the lesser wing-coverts, and in which 
the chest and throat are tawny and buff, the lower parts as ru- 
fous, almost, as in the adult, the primary wing-coverts washed 
with grey, and the tail uniform chocolate-grey. I refer to the 
plumage, in which the rich buff of the head extends down to 
the back, but not so far as in the above in which the wing- 
coverts are partially overcast with the same, the upper tail- 
coverts edged ferruginous, the under wing-coverts light rufous, 
the tail light rufous brown slightly washed with grey, and 
showing light beneath, and the iris light brown. I would 
remark that in the third stage the iris is yellow, as in the 
adult, and so are the tarsi, showing that the soft parts, in 
their march towards maturity, gain on the plumage. 
Circus melanoleucus is very rare in Ceylon. I have only 
seen one example during my seven years’ tour of collecting. 
While on the subject of Raptors, I may mention that Messrs. 
White and Co., taxidermists in Kandy, inform me that a 
second example of L. kieneri has been procured in the hills. 
I was fortunate to shoot a magnificent F. communis (2) on 
the cliffs of this fort last month. A pair visit us every October ; 
but their haunt is so inaccessible, that hitherto I have been 
unable to get at them. The weight of this specimen equals, 
I suppose, that of any ever shot in the east—2 Ib. 4 0z., and 
carefully weighed! It is true, its crop and stomach were full ; 
but I conclude this condition is taken into account in the 
weights given by Hume and others. This was a comparatively 
young bird, brownish feathers still remaining on the head 
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