FALCONIDiE. 31 



45. MelieraX Niger. Accipiter Niger; Spar- 

 vius liiger, Vieill. 



General colour black ; tail-feathers each with three white 

 spots above and four below. Primary quill-feather grey- 

 white, with small black and ashy- coloured spots. 



Dr. Smith, in Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa, gives 

 this bird as an inhabitant of South Africa — sed non vidi. By some 

 naturalists it is thought to be simply a melanism of the preceding 

 species, M. Gabar, which it equals in dimensions. 



46. MelieraX MusiCUS. Falco Musicus, Daud. ; 

 Le Faucon Chanteur, Le V., PI. 27 ; Blaauwe Valk 

 of Colonists, lit. " Blue Hawk." 



Upper parts and breast pearly-grey ; belly white, variegated 

 by many brownish-blue lines ; shoulders light grey ; rump 

 white. Larger wing-feathers black ; the tail dusky, tipped 

 with white, and crossed by broad white bars, except upon the 

 two middle feathers. Cere and legs red. Irides orange ; 

 according to Mr. Atmore, dark-brown. Length, 24"; wing, 

 13" 6"' ; tail, 12". 



It devours hares, quails, partridges, and other small game, reptiles, 

 and locusts ; builds either iu the fork of a tree or a thick bush. The 

 eggs are four, round, and pure white : axis, 2" 4"' ; diam., 1" 9". 



Le Vaillant states that the male sings for hours together in the twilight 

 of morning and evening, and sometimes through the night. This I 

 never noticed at Nel's Poort, where it is very abundant, as it is 

 throughout the Karroo, It will perch on the top of a high tree, utter 

 its mellow-piping whistle, and fly off again. I have sometimes heard 

 it call while on the wing. 



The Sub-Family, CIRCIN^, or Harriers, 



have the bill moderate, short, with the culmen much curved 

 to the tip, which is hooked, the sides compressed, and the 

 lateral margins festooned ; the wings lengthened and pointed ; 

 the tail long, broad, and even, or rounded at the end ; the 

 tarsi usually lengthened and slender; and the toes rather 

 short. 



Genus POLYBOROIDES, A. Smith. 



Bill broad and elevated at its base, the sides much com- 

 pressed, and the culmen much curved to the tip, which is 

 hooked ; the nostrils placed in front of the cere, with the 

 opening forming a longitudinal slit. Wings very long, with 



