1 920.] South African Accipitre^. 423 



geographical race, for I uuderstaiid that the great majority 

 of specimens of this form have been obtained in the White 

 Nile region. In South Africa it must be ver}^ rare, and none 

 of the South African museums possesses a specimen. The 

 only South African record I can find is a note by Mr. G. 

 A. K. Marshall (Ibis, 1900, p. 258), where he records 

 having seen three examples near Salisbury, Mashonaland. 

 The only speciuien at all approaching the white-backed 

 form I have met with personally was an adult male which I 

 shot at Okanjande in the South- West Protectorate; in this 

 all the rufous portions of the back were much paler 

 than usual, though the feathers were not worn or faded. 

 Other specimens shot in the same district were normal. 

 As to the systematic position of the species, 1 agree with 

 Gurney that it seems best to place it near the Harrier- 

 Eagles. 



15. Polyboroides typicus (Smith). Bare- cheeked Hawk. 



This handsome Hawk is not uncommon in eastern Tondo- 

 laud, where I have chielly had opportunities of observing 

 its habits. I have also met with a few individuals in East 

 Griqualand and in the South-Wt-st Protectorate. I have 

 almost invariably found them singly and usually amongst 

 the bush bordering rivers and streams. Prom the contents 

 of the stomachs of those that 1 have examined it would 

 appear that their food consists almost entirely of frogs, 

 lizards, and insects of all sorts. I have observed one going 

 through curious gymnastic feats amongst the branches of a 

 decayed tree, sometimes clinging to the bark like a creeper, 

 at others hanging more or less upside-down beneath a branch 

 like a Tit. 1 believe that the bird was busy extracting the 

 large grubs with which the decayed portions of the tree were 

 riddled. 1 have usually found this species among rather 

 thick bush, but I once saw it stalking about on the open 

 veldt, apparently hunting grasshoppers, and looking very 

 nmch like a small Secretary Bird in gait and other ways. 

 I have only found one nest ; this was in eastern Pondoland, 

 and was situated in the fork of a tree in a wooded kloof, but 



