672 PATAGONIAN EXPEDITIONS: ZOOLOGY. 



of the under surface more broadly streaked ashy brown, which on the sides 

 preponderates over the whitish and here the markings are often tear- 

 shaped or sagittate in character. The belly, vent, lower tail-coverts and 

 feathered portions of the legs immaculate dull whitish. 



Female young of the year or immature females (7895, P. U. O. C 

 Rio Chico de Santa Cruz, Cordillera of Patagonia, 18 February, 1897, ^■ 

 E. Colburn, collector. Or. No. 470; 7896, P. U. O. C. Canydon, Pata- 

 gonia, 9 August, 1896, J. B. Hatcher Collector, Or. No. 107) are much 

 like adults of the same sex ; there is broader marking on the under sur- 

 face and the pattern in general somewhat suffused by the unworn tips of 

 all the feathers ; this is most noticeable above. 



"Female: Coquimbo, June 1879. Legs grey; feet yellow; bill blue. 

 Stomach containing remains of birds." (Sharpe, P. Z. S. 1881, p. 10.) 



Geographical Range. — South America except the extreme northeastern 

 region (Venezuela and Guiana); Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. 



The series of sparrow-hawks procured by the Princeton naturalists at 

 every point which they explored attests to the wide distribution of the birds 

 in southern Patagonia. All of the birds in question show chestnut mark- 

 ings or a patch of chestnut on the crown ; this character is at variance 

 with the examples of this form, only two of which appear to have been 

 Patagonian, which Dr. Sharpe has described in Catalogue of Birds, British 

 Museum, Vol. i, pp. 440-441. 



The birds breed in deserted woodpecker holes or in natural cavities in 

 trees both on the more open plains and in the forest regions of Patagonia, 

 in November and December according to the location ; they are resident 

 throughout Patagonia and the country about the Straits of Magellan the 

 year round. 



Cunningham, in the Natural History of the Straits of Magellan (pp. 

 86-87), says: "Many parroquets were shot by the sportsmen on this 

 occasion, as well as a specimen of a pretty little hawk ( Tinnunculus spar- 

 verius) with bluish ash-coloured and rufous plumage, which we afterwards 

 found to be common in the Strait. It is abundant in Chili, where I was 

 told it bears the name of 'anicla,' and is, I believe, widely distributed over 

 the American continent. It is a bold little bird, as the following incident, 

 which occurred the same day, will show. While walking in an open space 

 near the entrance of the woods, I suddenly heard a rustle of wings, and, 

 on turning round to ascertain the cause, an individual of this species flew 



