NATURAL FIISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 



Little Sparrow Hawk {Accipite?- minullus). (Vol. IL, 



P- 1 570 



Description. — Male : above, dark slaty-black. Feathers 

 of neck and scapulars with white bases concealed. Wing 

 quills barred with darker brown on minor webs. Upper tail 

 coverts white. Tail feathers dark brown, slightly tipped with 

 white. The outer pair have alternate bands of brown and 

 white. Chin and throat white, slightly spotted with brown. 

 Ear coverts brown. Rest of under surface white with trans- 

 verse bars of brown ; thickest on breast. Flanks and sides of 

 breast rufous. Under wing coverts pale fulvous, spotted with 

 brown. Iris orange. Bill black. Legs orange. Cere yellow. 

 Claws black. 



Length, 9.5 ; wing, 5.5 ; tail, 4.20. 



Female resembles the male in plumage, but is considerably 

 larger in size. 



Distribution. — Generally distributed throughout South 

 Africa, especially in the thickly wooded districts of the eastern 

 parts of the Cape, and in Natal and Transvaal. 



Habits. — ^This little hawk is a great bush lover. It hunts 

 for its prey among the trees, in and out of which it flies with 

 great speed and skill. It is a swift flyer and swoops down 

 obliquely on to its prey, which consists chiefly of small birds. 

 Its nest is built usually of dry sticks, and placed in a mimosa. 

 It lays from 3 to 4 eggs, which are chalky-white in colour, 

 blotched and spotted with dull greyish-purple and brown. The 

 breeding time seems to be between September and October. 



Black-shouldered Kite {Elanus ccerule-us). (Vol. II., 



P- ^Sl-) 



Description. — Male : above slaty-grey, pale on the crown 

 and getting darker on the back. Scapulars, lesser and median 

 coverts black. Other parts of wing are like back, paling 

 towards outermost feathers. Bristles of cere and spot in front 

 of and behind the eye black. Forehead, sides of face, and whole 



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