366 FALCONID^E CIRCUS 



548. Melierax niger. PAach Gahar. 



Sparvius niger, Bonn, ct Vieill. Enc. Meth.iii, p. 1269 (1823). 

 Melierax niger, Layard, B. S. Afr. p. 31 (1867) ; Gurney in Andersson's 



B. Damaraland, p. 29 (1872) ; Sliarj^e, Cat. B. M. i, p. 91 (1874) ; 



Sharpe, ed. Layard' sB. S. Afr. pp. 20, 796 (1875-84); Ayres, Ibis, 1878, 



p. 282 [Transvaal] ; Fled; Joiirn. Ornith. 1894, p. 393 ; Shelley, B. 



4/"r. i, p.l.51(1896). 

 Melierax gabar var. nigra, Holuh cj- Pelzcln, Orn. Sild-Afr. p. 34 (1882). 

 Micronisus niger, Beichenow, Vog. Afr. i, p. rjQl (1901). 



Descrijotion. Adult male. — General colour black; quills brown, 

 the inner webs of both primaries and secondaries barred with dark 

 and light brown, the latter becoming white towards the base of the 

 feathers; tail crossed by four dirty white bars; below, black through- 

 out, the quills and tail-feathers barred black and white more 

 distinctly below than above. 



Iris red ; bill black ; base, cere, and feet cinnamon-red. 



Length 12-25; wing 7-25 ; tail 5-80; culmen 0-80 ; tarsus 1-85. 



The female resembles the male in plumage but is a little larger; 

 wing 8-0 ; tarsus 2-1. 



Distribution. — This bird has l)een considered by some ornith- 

 ologists to be merely a melanism of the previous species M. gahar, 

 which it closely resembles in size, shape, and distribution. It is 

 spread over north-eastern and eastern Africa, from Abyssinia and 

 Kordofan southwards. 



In South Africa it is exceedingly rare and has been obtained 

 in the following localities only : Cape Colony — Albany div. rare 

 (Grahamstown Mus.) ; Bechuanaland — Kalahari (Fleck), Lake 

 Ngami district (Andersson) ; Transvaal — Potchefstroom (Ayres), 

 Eustenburg (Lucas), Marico and Bloemhof (Holub) ; German south- 

 west Africa — Omaruru and elsewhere in Damaraland (Eriksson and 

 Andersson). 



Genus XXIII. CIRCUS. 



Type. 

 Circus, Lacep. Mem. dc I'lnst. iii, p. 506 (1806) C. cyaneus. 



Bill moderate, margin of the upper mandible slightly festooned 

 but not toothed ; sides of the face feathered, the bristles of the lores 

 partially concealing the nostrils, which are large, oval, situated in 

 the anterior part of the cere, and not provided with a bony tubercle ; 

 wings long and pointed ; tail long, even at the tip or slightly 



