THE BIRDS OF PliEY OF THE PUNJAB. 



139 



when its keen eyes must have seen the dove go into 

 the tree, as it certainly could not have seen it sitting 

 there, among the branches. The tree was a mango 

 and thickly foliaged. 



The call of the Sparrow-Havvk is very different to 

 that of the Shikra and is composed of two long 

 notes followed by three or four very short ones 

 repeated in quick succession, something like "tin tiu 

 ti titi '". 



The " bashin " the male of the sparrow-hawk is 

 very much smaller than the female and I have never 

 seen it used for hawking. 



This species builds in the Himalayas from about 

 0,000 ft. elevation upwards, in trees, and JBlanford 

 sa; s it often takes possession of a deserted crow's 

 nest and " lays usually 4 eggs, but sometimes as 

 many as 6 or 7. These are bluish-white, oval, much 

 spotted and blotched with rufous-brown, especially 

 towards the broader end, and measure about 1-7'" 

 by 1-3." 



No. 1218 AcrAiritey virc/atus. TheBesra Sparrow-Hawk 



Characteristic. 



Colouration. 



Measurements. 



Habits, etc. 



Size small, wing 7 to 8" ; tip of primaries in 

 closed wing reaching only about half Avay down the 

 tail. Bill from gape about half mid-toe without 

 claw ; a gular stripe usually present ; 7 or 8 bars on 

 4th quill in adults. 



Very similar to the preceding species in some of 

 its various phases of plumage, but usually darker 

 resembling more the Himalayan varietj' of A. nisus, 

 except for the gular stripe and the extra bars on the 

 4th quill. 



" Bill leaden grey, blackish a+. the tip, cere pale 

 lemon-yellow ; irides bright yellow, orange in old 

 birds ; legs and feet yellow." (Blanford) 



" A Himalayan female measures : — length 14. 5 ; 

 tail 7 " ; wing 8 ; tarsus 2-.5 ; mid-toe I'S : bill from gape 

 1-7 ; the male is smaller, tail 6 ; wing 6-7o." (Blan- 

 ford) 



Personally I am not at all familiar with this spe- 

 cies and have only seen two to my certain knowledge. 

 One little male was identical with the male of 

 A. nisus in the dark Himalayan plumage. It lacked 

 the gular stripe but had 7 distinct bars on the 4th 

 quill. The second was a young bird in the possession 

 of a falconer, said to have been caught in the Kan- 

 gra hills. 



The Bera and B/iooti as the male and female are 

 respectively called, are frequently taken in the nets 

 erected for Goshawks, in the Kangra District, but as 

 often released. My old falconer was familiar with the 

 species and had a very high opinion of it and consi- 

 dered the female better than the Bas/ia (A. ?iisus) 

 being faster and more tenacious but others again 

 and particularly some of those wiio csitch and 



