ACCIPITRIN^. 43 



was the . Dhuti, or male of the Besra Sparrow-hawk, all the birds 

 of Avliich kind are thrown from the hand, exactly as described by 

 Mundy. Buchanan, however, mentions that a small hawk, which 

 he calls Falco minutus, very little larger than a lark, was used for 

 hawking by the Pangga Eajah in Rungpore. 



//. melcmoleucos, Blyth, from Assam, differs in the lower parts, 

 including the thigh coverts, being entirely white. Other species 

 are H. ccerulescens of Java and Malayana; H. erythrogenys^ Vigors, 

 from the Philippines ; and H. sericeus from China. 



Harpagus, of S. America, has two teeth in the upper mandible, 

 the tarsi are longer, and have large scales in front, and the wings are 

 shorter. It may be said to lead the way to the short-winged hawks. 



Sub-fam. AcciPiTRiNuE, Hawks. 



Bill short and stout, curving from the base, with a blunt tooth 

 or festoon in the upper mandible ; wings short, rounded ; tail longish, 

 ample, and rounded ; tarsus long, scutellate in front, or nearly 

 smooth in some ; toes long ; claws long, curved and acute, unequal ; 

 inner claw large. 



This family comprises the Sparrowhawks and Goshawks, and is 

 spread over the whole world. They vary in size as much as the 

 Falcons almost, for although none of them are so minute as the 

 HierciT, yet none of the Falcons rival the Goshawk in size and 

 strength. The difference of size in the sexes is very much marked 

 in this family. Their flight is often near the ground, and is per- 

 formed by a few rapid strokes of the wings, alternating with a 

 sailing with outspread wings. They are more arboreal in their 

 habits than the Falcons, hunting in woods, or on the skirts of 

 Avoods, or along avenues and hedge rows ; and they generally seize 

 their prey by a sudden pounce during their flight, not following the 

 quarry to any distance as the Falcons do. 



They breed almost invariably on trees. Their cliangcs of 

 plumage according to age are usually from a mottled brown above, 

 to a purer brown or grey ; and the markings of the lower surface 

 change from oval drops to transverse bars, or are sometuncs 

 gradually obliterated. The eyes of all arc yellow, in some with 

 age becoming red; and they arc the GulaO chus]ii, of Indian 



