10. Circus melanoleucos,
Forst. Ind. Zool. p. I2,pl. ii ; Vieill, N. Diet, d Hist. Nat. vi. p. 465; Jerd. B. Ind. i. p. 98, No. 53; Sharpe, Cat. Acc. B. M. p. 61 ; Stray F. i. p. 98 ; id. iii. p. 33 ; vi. p. 11; id. vii. p. 250; Hume, Rough Notes, ii. p. 307; Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 414.~
Forst. Ind. Zool. p. I2,pl. ii ; Vieill, N. Diet, d Hist. Nat. vi. p. 465; Jerd. B. Ind. i. p. 98, No. 53; Sharpe, Cat. Acc. B. M. p. 61 ; Stray F. i. p. 98 ; id. iii. p. 33 ; vi. p. 11; id. vii. p. 250; Hume, Rough Notes, ii. p. 307; Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 414.~
The Pied Harrier.
Adult Male.-The whole head, chin, throat, neck all round, upper breast, nearly two-thirds of the back, scapulars (except the undermost one or two), primaries, and a broad band across the wing black. Wing coverts silvery grey, often broadly tipped with brown. Primary coverts and secondaries silvery grey, except the innermost which are black. Lower portion of back, rump, and upper tail coverts white, the latter with two or three broad cross bars of black or ashy grey. Tail pale, silvery dove colour or silvery grey, narrowly tipped with white; below and the inner webs also broadly margined with white. Under surface from lower breast, including wing lining and axillaries, pure white. Bill and cere black. Irides and feet yellow.
Length.-16 to 17.15 inches; wing 13.70 to 14.4; tail 8.5 to 10; tarsus 2.98 to 3.13 ; culmen 1.
The young male as described by Mr. Hume has the whole head, neck, and back of neck clove brown, each feather broadly margined with pale rufous. Upper back and scapulars uniform clove brown ; lower back and wings of a slightly lighter shade. Some of the longest feathers of the back with two obscure, terminal, rufous spots, one on each web; edge of the wing rufous white and many of the lesser coverts faintly or boldly margined with fulvous or rufescent. Upper tail coverts pure white, dark shafted, and with a conspicuous oval, rufous brown subterminal spot. Tail feathers a somewhat greyish pale-brown, narrowly tipped with fulvous white and with broad, rather dark brown transverse bars. Lower parts buffy or rufous white, with central rufous brown stripes, broad on the lower breast and abdomen, almost obsolete on the chin and the thigh coverts. Inner webs of primaries pale rufous white, barred with darker brown, the bars wider and more conspicuous on the under surface. Wing lining rufous buff; auxiliaries the same, with darker shafts and two or more broad, irregular transverse red brown bars. Winglet, greater primary coverts, and bases of the outer webs of the later primaries grey, with broad transverse brown bars.
The adult female is larger than the male and has a slatey grey wash on the back. Wing 15.4; tail 10; tarsus 3.13 inches.
Hab. -Mr. Sharpe gives Eastern Asia, eastern side of the Indian Peninsula and Burma, northwards to Mongolia, A moor land and Northern China. It occurs in Ceylon, Nepal, Burma, Assam, and Eastern Bengal generally, (extending westward to Mirzapoor), also almost throughout the Himalayas, from the valley of the Burhampooter to Afghanistan. It has been noted from Bengal, Rajputana, Central India, the Central Provinces, the Concan, Deccan, South India, British Burma, and Nepal.
Nothing is known of the nidification of this species. Dr. Jerdon however remarks in his appendix, that he has every reason to believe it breeds in Northern India.
