inhabiting the South of Africa. 220 



roundish dusky blotches ; thighs rufous, with transverse 

 brown bands or irregular cordiform or roundish spots. Pri- 

 mary wing feathers dirty brown, inner vanes banded towards 

 tips by black, and towards quills by white and black ; secon- 

 daries brown, with the inner vanes banded by black, and 

 their edges irregularly and broadly marked by white, the outer 

 edges and tips rufous. Tail slightly rounded, with four broad 

 blackish transverse bands, and the spaces between these 

 tawny or rufous, tips of all the feathers whitish ; legs and toes 

 greenish yellow; claws black. The colors of the male and 

 female are nearly alike, and there exists the same difference 

 in size between them when young as when old. 



Le Vaillant found this bird in the forests of Auteniqualand, 

 and I have seen several which were killed in the eastern dis- 

 tricts of the colony, as well as in Cafferland. Its nest, ac- 

 cording to the author just named, is placed upon trees, and 

 constructed externally of small twigs and moss, and internally 

 of feathers. From some small portions of shell which he 

 found about a nest, he considered the eggs as white, with red 

 spots. In the nest itself, as well as on the .branches of the 

 tree on which it was placed, were found the remains of grass- 

 hoppers, &c. 



Obs. — Though "Le Tachiro," as figured in the work upon 

 African birds is considered by its author as an adult specimen, 

 yet I have every reason to be satisfied that it is only the 

 young of the species just described. 



AcCIPlTER MELANOLEUEUS. 



A. niger; remiges nigra, pogoniis inter nis albo macvlatt.-; 

 aut fasciatis; cauda sordido-fusca fasciis transversis nigri 

 quatuor. 



Bill black, with the exception of the tooth of the upper 

 mandible, and a small portion of the lower directly opposite it, 

 which are yellowish ; cere yellowish ; color above black, with 

 a faint tint of brown, beneath pure deep black ; primary and 

 secondary wing coverts black ; primary wing feathers black, 

 with their inner vanes towards quills spotted, or irregularly 

 banded with white; secondaries dusky brown clouded with 

 black, and the inner vanes spotted with white; scapulars 

 brown, with some white blotches on both vanes. Tail slightly 

 rounded, with four broad black transverse bands, the in- 

 termediate spaces dirty tawny brown, and the outer vane 

 of the outermost feather of each side with some oblique short 

 white stripes towards quill, and internally with white 

 blotches ; the two next with blotches on the inner vanes, and 

 the centre ones without such marks ; legs and toes greenish 



