NEW ZEALAND BIRDS. 



OEDER I. ACCIPITRES ! BIRDS OP PREY. 



Bill hooked ; feet strong, three toes in front and one behind, all armed with strong 

 sharp claws, which are more or less retractile. 



TALCONID^. Hawks. 

 Bill partly covered by a cere ; wings long and pointed ; legs naked. 



HiEEACIDEA. Gould. 

 Upper mandible with a sharp tooth ; third qnill the longest. 

 Australia, New Zealand, and Auckland Islands. 



1. Hieracidea novse-zealandise. Lath. 



Quail-Hawk. Spaeeow-Hawk. Kaiaia. 

 (Plate I.) 



Above, brownish-black ; below, rufous-brown spotted with rufous-white ; chin and 

 throat white, streaked with dark brown ; thighs, rufous, streaked with brown. When very 

 old, the upper parts are banded with rufous, and the breast is rufous with brown streaks. 



Male.—L., 19 ; W., 11-25 ; B., 12 ; T., 2-5. 



Female.— L., 19-5 ; W., 11-5 ; T., 275. 



Fijg. — Oval ; yellowish- white, mottled all over with rich reddish-brown ; length 2, and 

 breadth 1"5 in. 



Mab. — Both Islands, and the Auckland Islands. 



" The food of the Quail-Hawk consists of birds, rats, mice, lizards, 

 and the larger kinds of insects. It often takes its prey on the wing, 

 swooping down on its terrified quarry with the rapidity of an arrow. 

 It never feeds on carrion or offal." — Buller.^ 



* " A History of the Birds of New Zealand." Quarto, 1873. London. 

 1 



