128 
of the adult bird, in both the colouring of the markings in the 
young is brown, the adults a rich black.” 
No. 24 (dis). Accipiter Melaschistos, Sp. Nov. 
Tur Dove Hawk. 
Under the above name, I venture to draw attention to what I 
believe to be a perfectly distinct species, although hitherto con- 
founded with the true Nisus. 
The chief distinctive features are, its greater size, and the 
much greater intensity of the colour of the upper plumage, espe- 
cially in the female. 
When at Simla I examined the numerous specimens of A. 
Nisus from France and England in Col. Tytler’s museum ; of 
these, the wings and tails measured as follows : 
Females. Wings 9°25—9°62. Tails 7°75 to 7°88. 
Males. » 8 13—8-38. 5, 6°55 to 6°88. 
And these measurements are much the same as those given 
by European authors. 
Of all these birds, none of the females are ashy above, several 
are apparently quite adult, but all are brown above ; a drab brown, 
rufous drab brown, clove brown, or what you will, dusky at 
times on the head, but still brown, and this seems to be insisted 
on by all the English describers whom I have quoted. Now 
the females of my new (?) species, have in the first place the 
wings 10°12, 10°25, 10°5, and the tails 8°25, 8-4, 8°5. They 
are very much darker than any of the Kuropean specimens, and 
of a wholly different shade ; it can hardly be called brown at all, 
a sort of blackish slaty, or in some, inky olivaceous, especially 
on the head and nape (it is paler elsewhere) which reminds one 
of the same parts of #. Perigrinator or Atriceps. The bill ap- 
pears far more powerful, the tooth or festoon larger and more 
conspicuous, the bars of wing and tail broader and stronger, the 
bars on the lower surface broader and more decided, being as 
broad as the white interspaces. I am aware that these char- 
acters are not absolute, that in this genus, all these points vary 
widely, in individuals of the same species, but taken altogether, 
these differences give the bird a distinctive character. 
Bree’s figure of the male A. Brivipes (A. Gurneyi, Bree. Vol. 
TV. p. 185) would do well enough for our females, but the 
difference of size is irreconcileable ; he gives the following dimen- 
sions for that species. 
