Birds. 279 



Accipiter niger. (Black Sparrow Hawk.) Colour a fine 

 black ; the feathers of nape and upper part of neck white at 

 their bases ; tail feathers above, each, tinted with three white 

 spots, and beneath, with four pure white spots, which form 

 transverse bands when the tail is spread ; the first band to- 

 wards the root, the next on the second-third of the tail, and the 

 last a little distance from the extremity. Primary quill feathers 

 grey- white with some small black spots variegated with ashy ; 

 secondaries black ; eyes yellow ; cere and feet orange. Length 

 nine inches. 



Inhabits Senegal, very rare. 



Accipiter Gabar. Bill dark horn-coloured ; cere deep red ; 

 eyes light crimson ; head, neck, inter scapular, back, and 

 shoulders, dirty brownish or reddish grey; chin, throat, sides 

 of neck, and breast, light bluish grey or pale slate colour ; belly 

 and thighs banded lightish black and clear white. Primary 

 quill feathers nearly an uniform dark brown on the outer vanes, 

 whilst the inner ones are marked by alternate bands of blackish 

 brown and dirty light white. Tail slightly rounded, feathers 

 brownish black, crossed by three transverse bands, which ap- 

 pear when viewed above, of a pale dusky white or greyish 

 white, and when seen below, of a pure white ; the tips of all 

 pure white ; legs and toes red ; claws horn-coloured. Length 

 from bill to base of tail six inches ; length of latter six inches 

 and a quarter. 



Young. Bill nearly as in mature specimens ; cere and eyes 

 yellow ; head and neck variegated blackish brown and rufous, 

 the latter most abundant on the sides of the last named part 

 interscapulars and back an uniform dark brown, with the ex- 

 ception of some very slight variegations, occasioned by many of 

 the feathers being indistinctly tipt with rufous ; shoulder 

 feathers dark brown, tipt and edged more broadly with light 

 rufous ; tail coverts white. Chin, throat, and breast, light 

 rufous, more or less variegated by longitudinal stripes of dark 

 brown or blackish brown ; belly and thighs marked by alternate 

 narrow bands of dirty black and pale rufous ; primary and 

 secondary quill feathers nearly as in old specimens ; tail black- 

 ish brown, crossed by four white bands, besides each feather 

 having a white tip and some spots of a like colour near quill ; 

 legs and toes yellow ; claws horn-coloured. 



Inhabits South Africa and Senegal. 



Falco Gabar, Daud. Le Gabar, Le Vaill. pi. 33. 



Accipiter Tachiro. Bill bluish black, with a small yellowish 

 spot on the edge of the tooth of the upper mandible, and 

 another opposite to it, on base of lower ; cere yellow ; upper 



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