from New Zealand and adjacent Islands. 577 



The change from the young to the adult plumage is well 

 shown in an immature male collected by Captain L. Strange 

 at the River Ilutt. 



The following measurements of the wing are taken from 

 the series of thirty-one specimens now in the British 

 Museum : — 



H. australis Males 9 0-9*2 inches. 



„ Females 9 T-lO'l ,. 



H. nova zealandia... Whiles 9"8-l(>3 „ 

 Females 10-8-1 Fi „ 



From this table it will be clearly seen that two forms 

 exist, but the female of H. australis and the male of H. nova 

 zealandia cannot be recognised with certainty unless the 

 sex has been ascertained. 



Mr. Richard Henry writes : — " There are a good many 

 ' Sparrow-Hawks/ as the colonists call them, about these 

 islands and in the bnsh, though we seldom see them. They 

 are wary, and fly late in the evening and at dawn, when I often 

 hear the little birds utter their alarm-cries, and know by the 

 way the signal is passed along that one of these swift Hawks 

 is on the hunt in hopes of taking some bird by surprise. 

 I find traces of their work almost as often as I see the birds 

 themselves. 



" One rarely sees one of these Hawks hunting a bird in 

 the open., probably because they rarely get an opportunity of 

 doing so. Their most successful plan of hunting is to fly 

 swiftly through the trees, when they have a great advantage 

 over any bird that fails to see or hear them in time to get a 

 start. I am confident that they catch most of the Pigeons in 

 this way, for they cannot catch a good Pigeon out in the 

 open ; though, of course, a time must come in the life of 

 every Pigeon when the young and hardy Hawk can catch 

 it. I have often seen them start a Pigeon with a great 

 rush and clatter, but if the latter succeeds in getting out 

 above the trees they nearly always gave it up. 



" On two occasions I saw them catch Fantails (Rhipidura) 

 by a slight divergence in their swift flight, though the Fan- 



