Mr. R. B. Sharpe’s Catalogue of Accipitres. 201. 
The barring of the tail m this species is thus described by 
Mr. Hancock—“ tail with three or four broad brown bands 
and smaller intermediate wavy ones.” So far as I have ob- 
served, the number of the broader bands, both in adults and 
in immature specimens, is more frequently four than three ; 
and the Norwich Museum possesses a nearly adult female 
from Fantee, in West Africa, in which the number of such 
bars is five; but the uppermost of these is somewhat rudi- 
mentary and imperfect. On the other hand, Mr. Sharpe 
describes a young bird, almost a nestling, m which he ob- 
served but two principal cross bars on the tail in addition to 
six or seven of the minor intermediate ones ; and the imma- 
ture bird from Beyrout in the Norwich Museum has a simi- 
larly marked tail, from which the usual broad subterminal 
band is entirely absent. 
I do not find any differencesin the barring on the tail be- 
tween immature and adult specimens that can be considered 
as of constant occurrence ; but in the former it is frequently 
less regular than in the latter, and in young birds of a dark 
complexion of plumage it often happens that the broader bars 
on the tail are singularly contorted. I have only once met 
with this peculiarity in an adult—a female killed whilst nest- 
ing in the New Forest ; but in this stance the irregularity is 
limited to the lateral rectrices, and therefore most probably 
was gradually disappearing as the bird became more mature ; 
I may add that the general colour of the plumage in this spe- 
cimen is not particularly dark. A good example of contor- 
tion in the bars of the tail will be found in the figure of a 
young female from Suffolk in Meyevr’s ‘ British Birds,’ pl. 17, 
8vo edition; but I have not seen any instance of the contorted 
markings being quite so distinctly visible as in Meyer’s figure, 
which I therefore suspect may be a little exaggerated as re- 
gards coloration. 
IT consider that the normal (by which I mean the most 
common) dress of the adult male of P. apivorus agrees with 
that described under this head by Mr. Sharpe, except that, 
according to my observation, most adults of both sexes have 
all the underparts, from the upper breast downwards, more 
SER. 1V.—VOL. IV. P 
