448 Mr. J. H. Gurney on a Neiv Species of Hawk from China. 



name of my friend Mr. Henry Stevenson, the Honorary Secre- 

 tary of that Institution, an accomphshed ornithologist, and one 

 to whose assistance, in the study of the birds of prey, I am in 

 many ways much indebted. 



Before proceeding to the description of this interesting little 

 Hawk, I may quote the following observations respecting it, for 

 which I am indebted to the kindness of my friend Mr. Swinhoe. 



" In my rambles about Honkong and Canton (of which I wrote 

 an account in 'The Ibis' for 1861) I procured a small Accipiter, 

 which was unfortunately lost before being identified. It seemed 

 to me at the time distinct from A. soloensis ; and a specimen 

 lately received from Macao bears out my former suspicions. Of 

 this same species Mr. Fleming, R.A., procured at Tientsin a 

 fine male example, which, together with the Macao specimen, 

 has been placed in the Norwich Museum. 



" This small Hawk I found pretty common about the woods 

 near Canton, and in the Island of Hongkong ; at the former 

 place it was breeding (see Ibis, 1861, p. 25). In my Tor- 

 mosan Ornithology,' under the head Micronisus gularis^, I have 

 again alluded to the occurrence of this bird in China; and to 

 these two notes I must refer the reader for all the information I 

 at present can offer about it. The specimen procured from 

 Macao was in skin, and I was therefore unable to take any 

 observations as to its appearance in a fresh state. I note, 

 however, that I have set down the irides as 'golden yellow,' 

 whereas on the ticket Mr. Fleming has attached to his bird 



they are given as ' red.' " 



" Perhaps in these small Hawks, as in the Owls, the irides 



deepen as the bird matures. — R. S." 



The dimensions of the two specimens referred to by Mr. 

 Swinhoe (and which I may designate as specimen A from Pekin, 

 and specimen B from Macao) agree accurately together, if allow- 

 ance is made for the skin from Macao having been somewhat con- 

 tracted during the process of preparation, and are as follows : — 



* See antea, p. 213. 



