162 A HANDBOOK OF EUROPEAN BIRDS. 
so towards the vent; bill bluish-horn, cere, legs, feet and irides 
yellow. Length about 4 ———_ culmen 0.75 ; wing 9 to 9°75 ; 
tanley?2 5 to 7° ; tarsus 2, 
Young Males: Resemble old females, but the back 
feathers are edged with rufous-brown, and the upper tail- 
coverts washed with the same ; under parts are more irregularly 
marked. 
Young Females: Differ from the foregoing chiefly in size 
and in being less marked with rufous-brown on the back. 
Distribution: Resident throughout the Palearctic re- 
gion. 
Habitat: Woodland regions, but often also to be seen 
hunting for its prey in the more open country in the vicinity of 
woods. 
LEVANT SPARROW -HAWK. 
Accipiter brevipes (Severfz). 
Adult Male: Above shaded ashy-grey; bases of secondaries 
white, washed with grey externally ; central and outermost tail- 
feathers unbarred ; thighs very pale and faintly barred with 
dull rufous, foes shorter, otherwise very lke adult male of A. 
nisus ; irides deep yellow. Length 13°3 inches; culmen 0°75 ; 
wing 8°95; tail 6; Zarsus 7°75. 
Adult Female: Above brown, the white bases to the 
scapulars and innermost secondaries well concealed; lores 
whitish ; cheeks, ear-coverts and sides of neck clearer brown, 
wing-coverts slightly tinged with grey; quills blackish-brown, 
greyish at tip, and white at base of inner webs, all wing-quills 
barred with blackish; central tail-feathers inconspicuously 
barred, otherwise much resembles A. wesws. Larger than the 
male. 
Young Male: Inner webs of secondaries white; tail- 
feathers greyer than in young A. mzsus, very faintly barred, and 
under parts much more boldly blotched or barred with rich 
brown. 
Distribution: Resident in Southern Russia, the Levant, 
Asia Minor, Syria and Palestine. 
