ACCIPITEK. 195 



Accipiter cirrhocephalus. 



COLLAKED SPARKOW-UAWK 

 Spitn-iiix cirrhiicfiphi'lns, Vieill., Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., Torn. X., p. .'V29 (1.^17). 



A<ripi/>'r /on/iia/iis, OoiM, Bh. Austr., fol. Vol. ], pi. lU (1.S4S); iil., Handbk. Bd.s. Austr., 

 Vol. 1., p. 4.J (1S(35). 



A'-ripi/,',- rirrJiiirt'p/iiht.>:, fihurpe, Cit. Bils. Brit. .Mus., Vol. L, p. 141 (1^74); i'L, Hand-1. Bds., 

 Vol. I , p. 2.-):3n8S9). 



Adult .m.\LE. — (reifral roUiar iiljoc''. lilnis/(-nsl( ci'our, sHijltthj darki r an llm n iui/s, the inner 

 webs of the quills lnxrnd witli dark broicu, Uf. luicl sliadfid iintJi 'jr<ij ; collar on the hind neck vinous- 

 red, less distinct on the centre : tail-feathers hronniish-f/reij above crossed ivitli dark bronm bands, 

 their nuder surlace pale ashy-(/r' i/, r- ndering the darker cross-bands more distinct : sales of the head 

 and ear-coverts of a c'eirer asliij-'jriij ; throat daJI ajhite, mottled iiAth ashy-grey; remainder of the 

 under surface narrowly barred a-itli dull tvhite aral vinous-red, the breast with an ashy a^ash, thebnrs 

 on the under tad-coverts wider a/iart, broken and almost obsolete in some specimens : bill black, lower 

 portion of base <d upper mandible bluish b ad colour ; I'ere greenish-yellow : legs pale ochreous-yellow, 

 (Ite feet slightly darker : iris ornnge-yelloa). Total length in the flesh IS inches, wing S'J, tail 0'2, 

 bill Oljo, fars7is '2'2~i. 



Adult fem.\lf,. — Similar in plnmnge to tlir male but larger, and having as a rule the pale 

 vinous-red cross-bars on the under tail-coverts more pronounced. Toted lenr/th in the flesh I'po 

 inches, iving ')■■!, tail 7, bill >'h7-'i, tarsus ..'■'). 



Distribution. — North-western Australia, Northern Territory of South Australia, Queensland, 

 New South Wales, Victoria, Soutli Australia, Central Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania. 



|i^N several respects the Collared Sparrow Hawk closely resembles the common Goshawk, 

 -L. A still' apfroximaiis. Like that species it is generally distributed in favourable situations 

 over the Australian continent and Tasmania. Although much smaller it is very similar to it in 

 plumage, undergoing the same changes from youth to full adult livery, and its eggs, which may 

 be either a uniform pale bluish-white, or blotched and smeared with brown, are distinguishable 

 from those of .-i «(';»' (r/'/'ro.i7'wa;/s only by their smaller size. There are numerous specimens in 

 the .\ustralian Museum Collection from different parts of .\ustralia and Tasmania, among others 

 Mr. George Masters procuring specimens at King George's Sound, Western .Vustralia, in April, 

 i86''), and October, i8'>S; also at Port Lincoln, South .\ustralia, and Gayndah, Burnett River, 

 Queensland, in September, i.Syo. Specimens are sometimes obtained in the neighbourhood of 

 Sydney, but not so often as As/iir iippro.xiiiians, 'Mr. W. J. Cosgrove procuring an adult female at 

 Elizabeth Bay, the late Mr. H. Newcombe a young female at Kandwick ; farther afield Mr. 

 J. Stein a young female at Smithfield, and Mr. A. i\I. N. Rose an adult male at Campbelltown, 

 the latter bird being shot while pursuing a Gralliiia pivata. 



It frequents open forest and heath lands, also stony wastes near the coast and thickly 

 timbered mountainous districts, Mr. A. M. N. Rose sending specimens from Boloco Station, 

 near Buckley's Crossing, Snowy River, two thousand feet above the level of the sea, and 

 in the neighbourhood of the coldest part of Australia, and Mr. Robt. Grant from Lithgow, on 

 the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, lying at an altitude of three thousand nine hundred feet 

 above the sea level. It is a remarkably bold and audacious species, and while on the wing in 

 pursuit of its quarry its swoop resembles the flight of an arrow from a bow. I once saw one 

 mobbed by a tlock of Swallows (llinindo iicoxciia ) while leisurely pursuing its way, and apparently 



