ACCIPITER POLYZONOIDES. 

 DIMENSIONS. 



laches. Lines. 

 Length from the tip of the bill to the 



point of the tail 13 



of the bill to the angle of the 



mouth 10 



of the wings when folded 7 9 



Inches. Lines. 



Length of the tall C 



the tarsus 1 9 



the outer toe 7 



the middle toe lOA 



the inner toe 6 



The male is rather smaller than the female, but the colours are nearly alike. 



Only a few specimens of this species were obtained, and those to the north of 26° south 

 latitude. Their manner of flight was exactly that of the common sparrow-hawk, and they 

 frequented principally the banks of rivers where small birds, upon which they appeared chiefly 

 to depend for their food, were abundant. 



There are three South African species of the genus Accipiter, with which the present species 

 may, at first sight, possibly be confounded. From the first, Accipiter poly zoniis, Temm., it is 

 readily to be distinguished merely by its inferior size, and the lighter tints of its upper plumage, 

 but should more definite diagnostic characters be required, they will be found in the colouring 

 of the tail. In A. jJoli/zonus almost the whole colour of the tail consists of three dark transverse 

 bands ; those of the inner vanes of the two middle feathers being distinctly edged, anteriorly, 

 with pure white. From the second, A. gahar, it willat once be distinguished by its wanting the 

 white rump ; and from the third, A. minulus, by its superior size, and by the bands of its tail 

 being more numerous : Iw A. minulus there are only three bands, each of which is very broad. 

 These three, however, are not the only species with which it may possibly be confounded; 

 there is another belonging to the East Indies, to which it approaches even more closely; indeed, 

 the resemblance between them is so great, that we were at first disposed to regard them as 

 identical. Upon close examination, however, we were able to detect many discrepancies. The 

 characters of the species discovered by the Expedition, having been already given, we shall, 

 therefore, only instance certain appearances of the Accipiter Desumierii, the name given to 

 the Indian form by Temminck,* and leave the reader to refer to the description of the cor- 

 responding parts of our species. In A. Desumierii, the bill is rather large for the size of the 

 bird, and is broad and convex, particularly towards the base ; the cere is hvid ; the festoon is 

 much developed, and marked with a large yellow blotch ; the eyebrows and space in front of 

 the eyes are white ; the sides of the head, 1;he ear coverts, and the sides of the neck are light 

 rufous, the two first slightly mottled with short delicate brown stripes ; the chin and throat are 

 white, with a dark central line; the breast and belly are banded with rufous. The wings 

 when folded do not reach so far as the first half of the tail ; the bands of the tail are narrow, 

 and in adult specimens rarely extend across the outer vanes ; the two middle tail feathers are 

 of a uniform grey colour, and without any appearance of bands ; the tarsi are two inches 

 and two lines in length. 



In addition to the species here figured, the following specimens of the genus Accipiter occur 

 in South Africa. 



Accipiter polyzoniis. Falco polyzonos, Temm. 

 Accipiter gahar. Le Gabar, Leoaill. Ois. d'Afrique, pi. 33. 

 Accijnter niger. Sparvius niger, Vieill. Gal. des. Ois. pi. 22. 

 Accipiter tachero. Le Tachero, Levaill. Ois. d'Afrique, pi. 24. 

 Accipiter minulus. Le Minule, Levaill. Ois. d'Afrique, pi. 34. 

 Accipiter rufiventris. Falco exilis, Temm. PI. col. pi. 496. 

 * Planches colores, Plate 40C. 



