THE SPARROW-HAWK. 181 



Genus ACCIPITER, Briss* 



558. ACCIPITER NISUS. 

 THE SPARROW-HAWK. 



Falco nisus. Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 130. Accipiter nisus, Jerd. B. 2nd. i. p. 51 ; 

 Hume, Rough Notes, i. p. 124 ; Dresser, Birds Ear. v. p. 599, pi. ; Hume, Nests and 

 Eyfjs, p. 25; id. S. F. iii. p. 24; Sharpe, Cat. Birds B. Mus. i. p. 132; Gurnet/, 

 Ibis, 1875, p. 479 ; David et Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 27 ; Wardlaw Ramsay, Ibis, 

 1877, p. 454 ; Oates, S. F. v. p. 247 ; Leyye, Birds Ceylon, p. 27 ; Hume $ Dav. 

 S. F. vi. p. 10 ; Hume, S. F. viii. p. 81 ; Oates, S. F. x. p. 178 ; Seebohm, Brit. 

 Birds, i. p. 135. 



Description. Adult male. The whole upper plumage dark slaty, the 

 quills and lateral tail-feathers browner, the quills barred with darker 

 brown; the tail crossed by four dark brown bands and tipped with 

 whitish ; lores grey ; cheeks and ear-coverts deep ferruginous ; chin and 

 throat rufous-white ; lower plumage white barred with rufous, the bars 

 very close together on the breast, wider apart on the abdomen and thighs; 

 sides of the body nearly entirely rufous ; under tail-coverts white ; under 

 wing- co verts and axillaries pale rufous- white barred with brown. 



The female differs in being browner on the upper plumage ; there is no 

 rufous on the sides of the head and on the lower plumage ; the cheeks, 

 ear-coverts, chin and throat are white streaked with brown, and the whole 

 lower plumage is white, regularly barred across with firm distinct equi- 

 distant brown bands; the longer under tail-coverts are nearly pure 

 unmarked white, and the under wing-coverts and axillaries are white 

 barred with brown. 



The young are brown above, each feather being edged with rufous ; an 

 eyebrow, cheeks and ear-coverts white streaked with black ; the quills and 

 tail are much as in the adult, but the latter is crossed by five dark bands ; 

 lower plumage white, the throat streaked with black ; the breast, flanks 

 and thighs barred with brown or rufous-brown, these bars being more or 

 less broken and assuming the shape of a series of spots or irregular marks; 

 under tail-coverts white ; under wing- coverts buffy white barred or marked 

 with brown. 



Bill blue; cere, legs and toes yellow; irides orange; claws black. 

 (Seebohm.) 



Length about 13 inches, tail 6'2, wing 8, tarsus 2'2, bill from gape '75. 



* The small Sparrow-Hawks and Goshawks are very like each other, especially when 

 immature. It may be well therefore to remind the student that the length of the middle 

 toe should always be looked at first in discriminating a species of Astur or Accipiter. In 

 the former the middle toe is short and does not much exceed the lateral toes, whereas 

 in Accipiter the toe is extremely long and extends far beyond the lateral toes. 



