404 FALCONIDjE. 



1248. Accipiter virgatus. The Besra Sparrow-Hawk. 

 Falco virgatus, Reinw., Temm. PI. Col. pi. 109 (1824). 

 Accipiter besra, Jerdon, Madr. Jour. L. S. x, p. 84 (1839) ; id. Ill, 



Ind. Orn. pis. 4, 29. 

 Accipiter affinis, Hodgson in Gray's Zool. Misc. p. 81 (1844), descr. 



nulla. 

 Accipiter nisoides, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xvi, p. 727 (1847) ; id. Cat. 



p. 22 ; id. Ibis, 1865, p. 28 ; 1866, p. 239 ; 1870, p. 158 ; Stoliczka, 



J. A. S. B. xxxvii, pt. 2, p. 13. 

 Accipiter virgatus, Blyth, Cat. p. 22 ; Horsf. $ M. Cat. i, p. 37 ; 



Jerdon, B. I. i, p. 52 ; Stoliczka, J. A. S. B. xli, pt. 2, p. 230 ; Hume, 



Rough Notes, p. 132 ; Jerdon, Ibis, 1871, p. 243 ; Holdsivorth, 



P. Z. S. 1872, p. 411 ; Adam, S. F. i, p. 368 ; Hume, S. F. ii, p. 141 ; 

 iii, p. 445 ; iv, p. 280 ; ix, p. 231 ; xi, p. 8; id. Cat. no. 25 ; Sharpe, 



Cat. B. M. i, p. 150 ; Blyth $ Wald. Birds Burm. p. 62 ; Gurney, 



Ibis, 1875, p. 480 ; A. Anderson, P. Z. 8. 1875, p. 19; Butler, S. F. 



v, p. 226 ; HumeSf ><* S. F. vi, p. 10 ; Ball, S. F. vii, p. 197 ; 



Sharpe, S. F. viii, p. 440 ; Gurney, ihid. p. 443 ; Legge, Birds 



Ceyl. p. 26 ; Parker, S. F. ix, p. 475 ; Reid, S. F. x, p. 6 ; Davison, 



ibid. p. 335; Gates, B. B. ii, p. 182 ; id. i ^me's N. $ E. 2nd ed. 



iii, p. 124 ; Barnes, Birds Bom. p. 24. 



Astur gularis, Temm. $ Schl. Faun. Jap., Aves, p. 5, pi. 2 (1845-50). 

 Teraspizias rhodogastra, Blyth, Birds Burm. p. 62 ; nee Nisus rhodo- 



gaster, Schleg. ; Gurney, Ibis, 1876, p. 278. 



Besra ? , Dhoti $ , Khand Besra, Khandesra, II. ; Vaishtapa Dega, 

 Tel. ; Urchitlu, Can. ; Ukissa, Cing. 



Coloration. Adult male. Above slaty grey, generally dark, occa- 

 sionally blackish ; nuchal feathers and scapulars white at the base ; 

 sides of head paler than crown and rufescent; quills brownish 

 grey above, whitish below, with broad dark cross-bars almost 

 throughout, 7 or 8, including the terminal band, on 4th quill ; tail 

 dark ashy above, paler below, with 4 broad black cross-bands on all 

 feathers except the outer pair, which have five or six narrower 

 oblique bars, that disappear in old birds ; throat white, generally 

 with a broad dark median band, but this is wanting in some aged 

 specimens ; upper breast rufescent, the feathers in the middle with 

 dark shafts and white edges ; lower breast, abdomen, and thigh- 

 coverts banded white and rufescent brown, but generally suffused 

 with rusty red, especially on the breast and flanks, to such an 

 extent as partially or wholly to conceal the bars ; in very old birds 

 the breast becomes pale rufescent or even lavender-grey and the 

 barring scarcely perceptible ; vent and lower tail-coverts always 

 white. 



Adult females differ in being dark brown above ; the crown and 

 nape above blackish or dark slaty ; wings and tail browner than 

 in males ; the throat is white, with a broad dark median stripe : 

 upper breast mostly rufous-brown, only the sides of the feathers in 

 the middle of the breast white, and the brown medial parts of the 

 same often mixed with blackish ; lower breast, abdomen, and thigh- 

 coverts banded rufous-brown and white, the brown bands growing 

 very broad and the white narrow in old birds ; a ferruginous suffu- 

 sion is occasionally found as in males, but appears to be rare. 



