48 CATALOGUE OF THE BIRDS OF PREY. 



the occiput and hack. With the exception of a line of white 

 above and below the eye, the feathers on the upper part of 

 the head are brown : this colouring extends slightly below 

 the gape, and also over the whole of the upper surface of the 

 bird, including the wings and tail ; but the basal parts of the 

 feathers on the upper part of the head, the nape, and back 

 are white, though this is not apparent except when a feather 

 is displaced ; but this white becomes somewhat more visible 

 where it is mingled with the brown, in the form of bars and 

 spots, on all the feathers of the wings, both above and below, 

 and including the upper and under wing-coverts, as also 

 on the upper and under tail-coverts ; the upper surface of 

 the tail bears five transverse bars of a pale brown, which 

 on the lower surface of the tail-feathers are white, and 

 the tail is also very slightly tipped with dirty white. The 

 throat is white, but is bisected for the upper three-fourths of 

 its length by a brown medial line, starting from the angle of 

 the lower mandible, and extending for about 3 inches in a 

 straight line towards the sternum. The feathers of the breast 

 and sides are of a mingled brown and white, the latter pre- 

 dominating in the vicinity of the throat. 



The abdomen and inner sides of the thighs are white, the 

 outer sides of the thighs are brown, the plumage of the 

 thighs also extending over about one-fifth of the upper portion 

 of the tarsus. 



The occipital feathers are lanceolate and slightly darker 

 (some of them being also a little longer) than the feathers of 

 the adjacent plumage, thus presenting an appearance similar 

 to that which is frequently to be observed in adult specimens 

 of Pernis cristatus. 



Of the primary feathers the third is the longest, the second 

 next, then the fourth, the fifth, and the first successively ; 

 the points of the primaries, when closed, reach to within 

 three-quarters of an inch of the tip of the tail. 



The tail, which consists of twelve feathers, is very slightly 

 forked, the centre feathers being the shortest, and the pair 

 next to the outside pair the longest. 



The bill is singularly small for the size of the bird ; but 



