Birds. 277 



secondary wing coverts blackish brown, with more or less of the 

 inner vane of each feather white ; primary wing feathers white 

 towards quills, blackish brown elsewhere ; in the outermost 

 ones the white occurs only upon the inner vanes, in the next to 

 them it occupies both vanes, and in the still more internal, the 

 white is crossed by black bands ; outer vanes of secondaries 

 an uniform dusky brown, inner ones brown and dusky or pure 

 white in alternate transverse bands. Tail slightly rounded, each 

 feather marked with white ; greyish white, or reddish white 

 and black alternate bands ; the number of the first description 

 is usually three, besides some irregular ones or only spots to- 

 wards quills ; the bands seldom extend completely across, but 

 have the extremities on each side commonly margined with the 

 same black as the other bands, and between the last light- 

 coloured one, and the tip nearly two inches of uniform black ; 

 bill and claws black ; cere and toes yellowish. Length from 

 bill to base of tail nineteen inches ; length of latter nine inches. 



Young. Plumage brown, feathers margined with rufous. 



Inhabits Africa. 



Falco occipitalis, Daudin, Ois. ii. p. 40. Shaw, vii. p. 59. 

 Nisser Tokoor, Bruce. Le Huppard, Le Vaill. Ois. Afr. pi. 2. 

 Kuifkop Valk of the Colonists. 



Genus POLYBOROIDES. Smith* 



Bill compressed particularly towards culmen, slightly arched 

 from base, moderately hooked at the point ; nostrils longitudinal, 

 linear ; cere smooth ; sides of head to some distance behind eyes 

 bare. Tarsi long, slender, laterally compressed and reticulated ; 

 toes long and slender, the middle one connected to the outer by a 

 slight web at base; claws long, slender, and much curved. 

 Wings nearly as long as tail ; the fourth and fifth feathers the 

 longest. 



Polyboroides typicus, Smith. Head, neck, and breast, dark 

 blue-grey ; back scapulars and shoulders light grey, variegated 

 with very fine undulating dull white lines; hinder portion of 

 back, upper and under tail coverts, belly, thighs, and insides 

 of shoulders, white, with fine transverse black lines ; intersca- 

 pulars, each with a black blotch near its point. Primary wing 

 coverts dark grey tipt with white, and with a broad black band 

 near the point. Primary wing feathers black, the outer vanes 

 towards quills grey, the inner ones white, undulated with black, 

 tips white. Tail dark green-black, crossed by a distinct broad 

 white band, finely undulated with black near the extremity, and 

 by some irregular ones toward the base ; the tips of all the 



* South African Quarterly Journal, March 1830. 



[81] 



