38 ACCIPITEES. 



dark brown bars, and largely tipped witli deep fulvous; sbaft-stirpe 

 black ; primaries above black, the outer and the inner webs near the 

 base rich sepia brown. The basal marginal half of theinnertwo pri- 

 maries and outer two secondaries light rufous barred with dark 

 brown ; remainder of the feathers dark brown, lighter at the tip, 

 outer web sepia brown ; secondaries deep sepia brown, with rich 

 metallic lustre, inner webs from near the tips light rufous barred 

 and freckled with dark brown ; median and primary coverts simi- 

 larly coloured; remainder of the upper w^ng-coverts dark brown, 

 some on the shoulders washed with pale rufous, nil margined ortip- 

 ped with ashy white, fulvous, or light rufous, and havingabrownish 

 black shaft-stripe ; scapulars deep sepia brown, smaller ones mar- 

 gined and tipped with ashy brown, all washed, freckled or barred 

 with pale rufous, which predominates on the concealed portion of 

 the feathers, where also the brown forms irregular bars ; extreme 

 base, white ; under surface of the wing quills are ashy brown, 

 all, except the outer primaries which are whitish at the extreme 

 base more or less freckled or barred with light rufous ; cere 

 bluish grey ; bill dark horn brown, lighter on the sides ; feet and 

 legs bluish grey ; iris, rich hazel. Total length 22 inches, wing 

 IGO, tail 10'7, tarsus 2'3, bill 1"5, culmen 1'8, culmen w-ithout 

 cere 1-35.* 



Adult Male. Similar in plumage to the female, but not so large. 

 Total length 205 inches, wing 15-5, tail lU-5, tarsus 2-25, 

 bill 1'3, culmen I'O, without cere 1"3. 



Young. Similar to the above description, but having the wing- 

 coverts and most of the feathers of the upper surface tipped 

 largely with ashy or fulvous white, a w^ell-defined blackish shaft- 

 line on all the feathers, and those of the head and neck washed 

 with rufous ; on the back of the neck the feathers are crossed 

 with irregular dark brown bars, the bases of all being white ; 

 the under surface is of a lighter dull fulvous brown, blotched 

 and striped with fulvous white. 



Nestling. Eeg. No. B. 643 i. " Taken from the nest December 

 18th, 1883, Interior of New South Wales. Iris light reddish- 

 brown bill and cere dark horn colour ; feet and legs bluish- white, 

 claws dark horn colour." Total length 8 inches ; bill from fore- 

 head 1 inch, from gape 1"1 ; tarsus 1 inch ; covered with short 

 white down, erect, longer and of a browaiish tinge on the hind 

 neck and head. 



Habitat. Ail parts of Australia, New Caledonia, South Coast 

 of New Guinea. 



* NoTK. — Not haviiij; met with any specimens in such adult pluniafje as that described 

 and fifjured by Mr. Gould, w hose description has evidently been taken from a \ery old 

 bird, 1 transcribe it here verbatim : — "Head, neck, and all the under surface light sandy 

 brown, each feather margined with a darker colour ; feathers of the back and wingfs brown, 

 mar^'ined with grayish white ; primaries blackish brown ; tail greyish brown, rather long 

 and rounded at the end ; cere and bill brownish white, gradually becoming darker towards, 

 the tip ; legs bluish white ; irides hazel." {Gould, Bds. Aust., vol. i, pi. 5.) 



