FALCONIDJE. 31 



45. MelieraX Niger. Accipiter Niger; Spar- 

 vius Niger, Vieill. 



GENERAL colour black ; tail-feathers each with three white 

 spots above and four below. Primary quill-feather grey- 

 white, with small black and ashy- coloured spots. 



Dr. Smith, in Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa, gives 

 this bird as an inhabitant of South Africa sed non vidi. By some 

 naturalists it is thought to be simply a melanism of the preceding 

 species, M. Gabar, which it equals in dimensions. 



46. MelieraX MusiCUS. Falco Musicus, Daud. ; 

 ti 1 Le Faucon Chanteur, Le V., PL 27 ; Blaauwe Valk 



' of Colonists, lit. " Blue Hawk." 



UPPER parts and breast pearly-grey ; belly white, variegated 

 by many brownish-blue lines ; shoulders light grey ; rump 

 white. Larger wing-feathers black ; the tail dusky, tipped 

 with white, and crossed by broad white bars, except upon the 

 two middle feathers. Cere and legs red. Irides orange ; 

 according to Mr. Atmore, dark-brown. Length, 24": wing, 

 13" 6"' ; tail, 12". 



It devours hares, quails, partridges, and other small game, reptiles, 

 and locusts ; builds either in the fork of a tree or a thick bush. The 

 eggs are four, round, and pure white : axis, 2" 4'" ; diam., 1" 9'". 



Le Vaillant states that the male sings for hours together in the twilight 

 of morning and evening, and sometimes through the night. This I 

 never noticed at Nel's Poort, where it is very abundant, as it is 

 throughout the Karroo. It will perch on the top of a high tree, utter 

 its mellow-piping whistle, and fly off again. I have sometimes heard 

 it call while on the wing. 



The Sub-Family, CIRCIN-ZE, or Harriers, 



have the bill moderate, short, with the culmen much curved 

 to the tip, which is hooked, the sides compressed, and the 

 lateral margins festooned ; the wings lengthened and pointed ; 

 the tail long, broad, and even, or rounded at the end ; the 

 tarsi usually lengthened and slender; and the toes rather 

 short. 



Genus POLYBOROIDES, A. Smith. 



Bill broad and elevated at its base, the sides much com- 

 pressed, and the culmen much curved to the tip, which is 

 hooked ; the nostrils placed in front of the cere, with the 

 opening forming a -longitudinal slit. Wings very long, with 



