305 

 AFRICAN ZOOLOGY: 



By Dr. SMITH. 



Continued from page 288. 



Circus Acoli. Male. — Bill horn-coloured towards base, 

 bluish black towards tip ; cere red ; eyes orange-red : colour 

 of plumage above pale bluish grey ; beneath whitish, with the 

 breast, belly, and thiofhs, finely rayed transversely with black ; 

 body slender; legs long; tail nearly even, and of a dirty 

 brownish white tint; shafts reddish brown ; legs and toes yel- 

 lowish ; claws black. 



Inhabits South Africa, — Zwartland, Le Vaillant. 



L' Acoli, Le Vaill. Afriq. p/. 31. 



Circus ranivorus. Bill black, with a shade of yellow on 

 lower mandible near base ; eyes and cere yellow ; front and 

 crown brown, varied with light rufous ; back of neck and inter- 

 scapulars dirty dark brown, the feathers edged with a pure or 

 reddish white ; back and rump brown, feathers with tawny tips; 

 upper tail coverts ferruginous and brown, with whitish tips ; 

 shoulders mottled dark blackish brown, ferruginous and pure 

 white ; cervical collar blackish brown and white ; chin, throat, 

 and breast, dirty brown, the feathers edged and tipt with dirty 

 reddish white. Primary and secondary wing coverts blackish 

 brown, with grey transverse bands ; primary quill feathers with 

 the outer vanes marked by alternate transverse bands of deep 

 hoary grey and brownish black ; inner ones with a considerable 

 proportion of bluish grey, variegated by transverse partial 

 blackish bands, the inner edges of vanes towards quills, clear 

 white ; towards tips the feathers all nearly uniform brownish 

 black ; secondaries brown and deep bluish grey, in alternate 

 transverse bands ; inner edges of inner vatTfes white. Tail with 

 five blackish brown, transverse bands, and six bluish grey ones, 

 besides bluish grey tips. Legs and toes yellow ; claws black. 

 Length eighteen inches. 



Inhabits South Africa. 



Falco ranivorus, Daud. Shaw. ZooL Le Grenouillard, 

 Le Vaill. Afriq. pi 23. 



Circus maurus, Temm. Bill black ; the base of lower man- 

 dible and the portion of the edge of upper adjoining it, yellow ; 

 cere and eyes yellow; head, neck, back, rump, shoulders, and 

 all the under parts, brownish black, verging on pure black ; 

 the bases of the feathers of the nape pure white. Outer vanes 

 of primary quill feathers hoary grey ; inner vanes towards quills 

 white ; elsewhere brown or black ; secondaries with the outer 



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