FALCONID*; ACCIPITEB 351 



surface a good deal darker. Length 16.0 ; wing 9-25 ; tail 7-20 ; 

 tarsus 2-3. 



A young bird is dark brown above, most of the feathers edged 

 with a narrow band of rufous ; the white tip to the tail is much less 

 marked ; below, the feathers of the chin and chest have dark brown 

 shaft stripes ; the breast, abdomen and flanks show strong traces of 

 brown transverse cross bars, covered over and obliterated by the 

 gradually spreading rufous colouring of the adult. 



Distribution. The African Sparrow Hawk is not uncommon in 

 the neighbourhood of Cape Town, whence it extends over the greater 

 part of the Colony and Natal. From the Transvaal it has only 

 been recorded from near Lydenburg by Ayres ; in Damaraland and 

 Great Namaqualand it is stated by Andersson to have rarely come 

 under his notice. Its range in South Africa is, therefore, somewhat 



"X 



FIG. 121. Accipiter rufiventris. x }. 



limited. Beyond our region it is not known from Angola, Nyasa- 

 land, or east Africa, but has been obtained in Abyssinia by Harris, 

 Eiippell, and Heuglin, and from the interior of Togoland in west 

 Africa by Blittner. 



South African localities are: Cape Colony Cape div. and 

 Swellendam (S. A. Mus.), Knysna (Victorin and Marais), Baviaans 

 river valley in Bedford (Smith), Albany not uncommon (Grahams- 

 town Mus.) ; Natal Near Howick (S. A. Mus.), and Newcastle 

 (Butler); Transvaal Lydenburg (Ayres). 



Habits. Little has been recorded regarding the habits of this 

 hawk ; Layard states that it sometimes hovers like a kestrel when 

 on the look-out for mice or other ground-animals, at other times he 

 has seen it glance like lightning through a copse and in passing 

 whip off a small bird perched on a branch. It also feeds on white 



