1/4 FALCONIFORMES CHAP. 



in trees upon a bed of chips, leaves, and insect - debris. M. 

 latifrons, of Borneo and the Nicobars, has a much wider frontal 

 band ; M. melanoleucus of Assam and Cachar, M. erythrogenys 

 of the Philippines, and M. sinensis of China are quite white 

 below ; but the second has black thighs and the third a white 

 nape, a character shared by M. eutolmus, ranging from India 

 to Cambodia, wherein the throat and abdomen are chestnut. 

 PolioJiierax semitorquatus, little bigger than the foregoing, inhabits 

 North-East and South Africa, the male being blue-grey with white 

 forehead, cheeks, nape, rump, under parts and markings on the 

 remiges and rectrices ; P. insignis of Borneo and Siarn is 

 larger, with black shaft-stripes, but no white collar. The females 

 have the mantle, and in the last-named the crown, chestnut. The 

 African species rarely soars, but haunts low trees and bushes, occa- 

 sionally nocking, and feeding on mice, small birds, lizards, and 

 coleopterous insects. Spiziapteryx circumcinctus, of Chili and 

 Argentina, is brown above and whitish below, with numerous 

 dark streaks ; the white eyebrows meet at the nape, and white 

 spots and bands mark the remiges and lateral rectrices. 



Dissodectes ardesiacus, of Arabia, North-East and West Africa, 

 is slate-coloured with dark shaft-stripes, the wing-quills being 

 brown and the tail interruptedly barred with whitish. D. dickin- 

 soni of Benguela, the Shire and Eovuma valleys, is brown with 

 pale head and white rump ; D. zoniventris of Madagascar has 

 dark bands on the mantle and on the white under parts. Hiera- 

 cidea (Harpa) novae zealandiae, the Quail Hawk of New Zealand 

 and the Chatham Islands, is dark brown with rufous and grey 

 barring above ; the crown and nape being blacker, the tail shew- 

 ing eight whitish bands, and the creamy- white lower surface and 

 fulvous thigh -region exhibiting streaks of brown. It may be seen 

 soaring over the plains and lower hills, hovering with expanded 

 tail, or pouncing like an arrow on the rodents, birds, and lizards 

 which form its food. Insects too are captured on the wing, and 

 poultry fiercely attacked. The cry is screaming; the eggs resemble 

 those of the Peregrine Falcon, and are deposited in hollows scraped 

 on rocky ledges, or occasionally in rough nests among thick 

 creepers. A smaller and bolder race has been termed H. ferox 

 or Irunnea, the Bush-Hawk. H. berigora of Australia and New 

 Guinea has brown upper parts, with rufous markings that become 

 bands on the white-tipped tail, creamy under parts streaked with 



