468 Mr. J. II. Gurney's Notes on 



Alse. Caud. 



in. lin. in. lin. 



C. i;T/onm jim., type 4 7 3 6 



„ ad. J 5 3 10 



C. puella ad 4 9 3 10 



XLIV. — Notes on a ' Catalogue of the Accipitres in the British 

 Museum,' bij II. Bowdler Sharpe (1874) . By J. H. Gurxey. 



[Continued from page 370.] 



In continuing my observations on the genus Accipiter, I 

 think it desirable to call attention to the fact that several of 

 the Hawks included by jNIr. Sharpe in that genus bear a re- 

 markable resemblance in their coloration and markings, both 

 in their immature and adult plumage, to various other species 

 which are included by Mr. Sharpe in the genus Astur, and 

 that these resemblances are strongest between species inha- 

 biting the same regions. Thus 



Accipiter ovarnpensis resembles Astur poly zonoides. 

 „ minuUus „ „ tachiro. 



„ viryatus „ „ trivirgatus. 



„ ei-ythrauchen „ „ griseigularis. 



„ cirrhocephalus „ „ approximans* . 



It was probably the existence of such similarities that 

 induced the late Dr. Kaup to make the following remark 

 (P. Z. S. 1867, p. 170) : — " The length of the middle toe, or of 

 the toes generally, has only a specific value in the Nisi, and 

 not a generic one," — an observation which appears to me to 

 have considerable force, though I will not now occupy further 

 space by here discussing it. 



As in the case of the Hawks referred by Mr. Sharpe to the 

 genus Astur, so, in like manner, among those comprised by 

 him under the generic name of Accipiter, some distinct na- 

 tural groups appear to me to exist ; and I now purpose to 



* According to Prof. Schlegel (Museum des Pays-Bas, A. Accipitres, 

 p. 62), a similar resemblance exists between the adults oi Accipiter mada- 

 ffascariensis (A. lantzii, Verr. ) and Astur hcn^ti. 



