BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLON? 77 



sides of the body, flanks, and thighs nearly uniform cinnamon rufous, 

 less banded, the breast and anterior part of the abdomen approach- 

 ing this condition but still banded, the terminal bands run together; 

 under wing coverts with dark brown bars as in juvenal birds. 



The adult plumage is well known and needs no redescription. I 

 have seen but one adult im-fiventr^is and one perspiciUaris and can 

 hardly say if there is any constant difference between them with re- 

 spect to the under wing coverts, but in the specimen of perspicillaris 

 none of these feathers have dark shaft streaks, which are present in 



The size difference between the two races is small and may not be 

 constant. The specimen of perspicillaris has the following measure- 

 ments: Wing, 192; tail, 150; culmen, from cere, 11 millimeters, while 

 a male of fmfiventris presents the following: Wing, 200; tail, 158; 

 culmen, 11.5 millimeters. Females are considerably larger than 

 males. 



This hawk appears to be rather uncommon as all collectors in 

 Shoa from Von Heuglin and Riippell to Erlanger and Mearns found 

 it on only a few occasions. Neumann ^^ says that it lives only in 

 great altitudes (about 7,200 feet or 1,800 meters), a fact which may 

 explain its apparent scarcity. 



ASTUR BADIUS SPHENURUS (Riippell) 



Faico (Nisus) sphenurus ROppell, N. Wirbelth., Vog., p. 42, 1836: Dahlak 

 Island, Red Sea. 



Specwiens collected: 



Male adult, Gato River near Gardula, Ethiopia, April 10, 1912. 



"Female" (=male) immature, Gato River near Gardula, Ethi- 

 opia, April 13, 1912. 



Female nestling, Gato River near Gardula, Ethiopia, April 21, 

 1912. 



'' Male " ( = female) immature, Gato River crossing, Ethiopia, May 

 17. 1912. 



Male immature, Sagon River, Ethiopia, June 3, 1912. 



Immature birds have the iris yellow, whereas in adults it is cherry 

 red. The cere is yellow, feet yellow, claws black, the bill black, 

 yellowish at the base of the mandible. The feet of the nestling are 

 recorded as having been pale yellow in life. 



The nestling is largely downy below, but the juvenal feathers are 

 quite advanced on the upper parts, wings, and tail. The down is 

 pure white and is longest on the thighs, abdomen, and lower breast, 

 shortest on the chin and upper throat. The lores and subocular re- 



■^Journ. f. Ornith., 1904, p. 361. 



