424 Mr. R. B. Sharpe on Dr. von Heuglia's 



even took a nest in lat. 70° N. nearly (Ooth. Woll. § 117). 

 Falco zonarius, Temm. (PI. Col. 374, 420) is referred to 

 Nisus unduliventer (p. Q7) ; but on this point Mr. Gurney's 

 remarks [antea, p. 59) should be consulted. N. hartlaubi 

 (p. 69) is quite distinct from Accipiter minullus, and consider- 

 ably larger ; the true West-African race of the latter being A. 

 erythropus. The female of ^. minullus is described as " obsoletius 

 tinda-j" but I may remark that in specimens from South- 

 Eastern Africa there is no difference in colouring between the 

 sexes when fully adult ; Levaillant's plate represents an imma- 

 ture bird. Again (p. 70), Dr. von Heuglin unites three nearly 

 allied but distinct species under the common name of JS/isus ba- 

 dius. They are as follows : — 



1. Accipiter badius = A. dussumieri. 



2. Accipiter splienunis = A. brachydactylus. 



3. Accipiter polyzonoides. 



I have never seen the true A. badius from any locality west of 

 India; but it is represented in the West by three closely allied 

 though distinct races, viz. : — in South-Eastern Eui'ope and 

 South-Western Asia by the somewhat larger species A. bre- 

 vipes ; in tropical Africa north of the equator by A. sphenurus, 

 in which the males are of nearly the same size as those of A. 

 badius, but the females are always smaller ; in Africa south of 

 the equator by A, polyzonoides, a still more distinct race than 

 A. sphenurus and much less rufous on the under parts when 

 adult. In Madagascar the same form, again somewhat varied, 

 occurs in a fifth species, A. madagascariensis. The northern 

 Nisus niloticus (Sundev.) is not recognized (p. 73) as distinct 

 from the southern A'^. gabar ; but Mr. Gurney thinks that they 

 ought to be separated, and this view is corroborated by Mr. 

 Blanford in his newly-published work (Geol. and Zool. Abyss, 

 p. 292). In conclusion, it may be remarked that these birds, 

 though referred by Dr. von Heuglin to the genus Nisus, are in 

 fact small species of Melierax *. He (p. 7Q>) also unites the 

 Polyboroides of Africa with that of Madagascar, which is appa- 

 rently quite distinct {cf. [bis, 1869, p. 451) ; and the identity of 



* Mr. Layard (B. S. Afr. p. 30) mentions that M. yabar whistles 

 " better than M. musicm.^'' 



