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ACCIPITER NISUS. 

 THE SPARROW HAWK. 



The upper parts of the male dark bluish-grey, with 

 a white patch on the nape when the feathers are raised ; 

 the lower parts reddish-white, transversely barred with 

 yellowish-red, the shafts dark brown ; length about 

 twelve inches. Of the female, the upper parts brown, 

 tinged with grey, the lower greyish-white, transverse- 

 ly barred with dark grey; the length about fifteen 

 inches. 



Male. — The Sparrow Hawk is of a very slender and 

 elegant form, the body being extremely thin behind 

 and narrow even at the fore part of the thorax ; the 

 head of moderate size, the bill small ; the wings of mo- 

 derate length ; the tail long ; the feet slender, and the 

 toes, especially the middle one, remarkably elongated. 

 The bill is short ; the upper mandible has its dorsal 

 line ciu*ved from the base, so as to form nearly the 

 fourth of a circle, the sides sloping, the edges sharp 

 anteriorly, with a broad tooth-like process or promi- 

 nent festoon about the middle, the tip very acute and 

 at its extremity nearly perpendicular. The cere is 

 short, its margin forming a convex curve before the nos- 

 tril, below which it is concave, and slopes toward the 

 angle of the mouth. The lower mandible has the angle 

 broad and short, the dorsal line convex, the back broad 

 and rounded, the sides convex, the sharp edges inflect- 



