Official Organ of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists' Union. 



" Bir^s of a feather." 



Vol. X.] 2IST JANUARY, 191 1. [Part 4. 



Description of a New Goshawk. 



By a. J. Campbell, Col. Mem. B.O.U. 

 Erythrotriorchis rufotibia, sp. nov. 



Adult Female. — Upper Surface. — Head, mantle, andtail coverts 

 blackish-brown (darkest on the head, lightest on the tail coverts), 

 each feather edged with brown, varying in shade from rufous to 

 cinnamon ; wing coverts blackish-brown, edged with rufous, so 

 that the dark markings on each feather appear broadly wedge- 

 shaped, same as on rest of upper surface ; primaries and 

 secondaries brownish, and tail greyish, all distinctly barred with 

 a darker colour. Under Surface. — Throat and neck dull white, 

 each feather with a narrow dark brown stripe ; chest and flanks 

 tinged with rufous, each feather also with a distinct central dark 

 brown stripe ; breast and abdomen whitish, feathers narrowly 

 and conspicuously striped with dark brown ; tail coverts buffy- 

 white ; wing coverts and legs (tibia) rich rufous or chestnut- 

 brown, the former marked with spots of dark brown ; wings and 

 tail greyish-white, both beautifully barred with slaty colour. 

 Iris yellow ; tarsus yellow ; bill black at tip, grey at base (Hill). 



Dimensions in inches : — Total length, 22^ ; wing, 16^ ; 

 tail, 10; tarsus, 3; culmen, 1% ; middle toe (including claw), 



3^8- 



Habitat. — Napier Broome Bay, North-West Australia. 



Ronarks. — This large and handsome new Goshawk is the 

 second of the genus found in Australia, the other being the Red 

 Goshawk {Erythrotriorchis radiatiis), and is closely allied to the 

 Marquis Doria Goshawk {E. dories),^ found in New Guinea,. 



* Of Salvadori and D'Albertis. For figures see Gould-Sharpe's " Birds of New 

 Guinea," vol. i., pi. 2, concerning which Dr. Sharpe wrote : — " The original 

 specimen came from Hall Bay, in south-eastern New Guinea. This is the bird 

 which forms the principal figure in the plate, and which we consider to be immature. 

 The second specimen figured in the plate is apparently a fully adult bird, and was 

 obtained by Mr. (ioldie on the Astrolabe Mountains, in south-eastern New Guinea. 

 We believe it to be an adult male, and the type to be an immature female, notwith- 

 standing some discrepancies in the proportions of the quills and tail feathers exhibited 

 by the two specimens. If we are correct in thus assuming the relation of these two 

 individuals, then it is evident that the genus Megairiorchis is the same as the Aus- 

 tralian genus Erythrotriorchis, of which E. radiattis is the representative species on 

 the latter continent. A larger number of specimens is, however, requisite to settle 

 the point satisfactorily." 



