4 



sex ; and it must be confessed that conclusions based on a mere examination of skins, in the 

 absence of a positive determination of the sex, are very unsatisfactory. It will be seen, on refer- 

 ence to the measurements I shall give in treating of the smaller species, that the sexes differ very 

 much in size, the female, as is always the case with members of this family, being the larger bird. 

 The fact that a male of the present species (carefully sexed by Dr. Haast, and exhibiting the testes 

 fully developed) proves to be actually larger than the female of H. hrunnea is, I submit, of itself 



sufficient to warrant a specific separation. With regard to the difference in the circumference of 

 the legs, in the males and females relatively, I would simply remark that, had Captain Hutton 

 enjoyed the opportunity, as I have recently done, of examining the immense series of Hawks 

 which exist in European museums, he would regret having drawn an inference from so worthless 

 a character ; for size of leg in Accipitrine birds is variable in the highest degree, and this is 

 especially noticeable in the case of dried specimens. 



Having brought with me to England good examples of both forms, for more critical examina- 

 tion, and having compared them with the fine series of specimens in the British Museum (about 

 twenty in number) and with Forster's original drawings, I have come to the conclusion that there 

 are in reality two distinct species, closely resembling each other in plumage in both the young and 

 adult states, but differing appreciably in size. In this examination I have been kindly assisted by 

 Mr. J. H.- Gurney, an ornithologist who, as is well known, has made Birds of Prey his special study ; 

 and as he entirely concurs in the conclusion arrived at, I feel that I can publish it with some 

 degree of confidence. 



Dr. Haast, who has always believed in the existence of two species, assures me that their 

 habits differ in the manner of taking their prey; and his collector, Mr. Fuller, states that he has 

 invariably found the large birds paired together in the plains, and the small ones in the bush. 



The food of the Quail-Hawk consists of birds, rats, mice, lizards, and the larger kinds of 

 insects. It often takes its prey on the wing, swooping down on its terrified quarry with the 

 rapidity of an arrow. It never feeds on carrion or offal. 



Mr. Thomas H. Potts, of Ohinitahi, Canterbury, to whom I am indebted for many valuable notes, 

 has sent me the following observations : — " The Quail-Hawk exhibits great perseverance in pursuit 

 of its prey, and almost unequalled audacity. I have known it pursue and strike down a large 

 Spanish hen in a stockyard, not relinquishing its hold till killed with the blow of a stick. I have 

 also known it pursue its prey into the inner room of a small cottage. When Quail-shooting, years 

 ago, I have been on different occasions attended by this dauntless fowler, and have shot an indi- 

 vidual in the act of pouncing on the flying Quail. I have seen a female of this species bear off 

 a Tui trussed in her talons, and carry it some distance without a rest, the male bird apparently 

 keeping watch and ward, soaring within easy distance. I remember also seeing a Quail escape 

 the rapid pursuit of one of these Hawks by dropping like a stone, at the very instant that I 

 expected to see it trussed up in the talons of its pursuer, so close was the chase before the Quail 

 adopted its last resource for escape." 



I have been informed by a credible eye-witness that on one occasion a Quail-Hawk swooped 

 down upon a man who was carrying a dead Pigeon, and, striking the bird forcibly out of his 

 hands, retired to its station in a Puriri tree {Vitex littoralis) to wait the course of events. It 

 unfortunately fell a victim to its intrepidity, as it was instantly shot. 



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