52 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



countries of Central India, and on the Himalayas. At Darjeeling 

 it may frequently be seen in cleared ground, circling about on the 

 watch for any bird that may pass over. 



It is very highly prized by the natives for falconry, being very 

 speedy ; and is used to capture partridges, quails, courier plovers 

 {Cursorius), and even rock pigeon [Pterocles). 



25. Accipiter Virgatus, Tem. 



Falco, apud Temminck, PI. col. 109 — Blyth, Cat. 96 — Horsf. 

 Cat. 46 — Ace. besra, and A. fringillarius, Jerdon, Cat. Nos. 34 and 

 35 — Jerdon, 111. Ind. Orn., pi. 4, (young male,) and 29, (adult 

 female) — A. affinis. Hodgson — A. dussumicrii, apud, Sykes, Cat. 

 11 — Besra (the female), Dhoti (the male), liuid. — Vaishtapa 

 dega, Tel. — Ur-chitlu, Canarese of the Ilalapyks. 



The Besra Sparrow-Hawk. 



Descr. — The young bird is dark brown above, the feathers edged 

 paler and rufous, tinged with dusky on the cheeks and ears ; tail 

 light broAvn, with dark bars ; beneath white, with a mesial throat 

 stripe, and broad oval broAvn drops on the breast and abdomen? 

 most numerous in the female. 



The adult bird has the plumage above deep and glossy olive 

 brown, with a blackish or slaty tint ; the head and neck dusky 

 black ; ears and face light dusky ; the tail light greyish, with 

 four dark bands on the centre tail feathers, and six on the outer 

 ones ; throat white, with a mesial blackish stripe, and a few streaks 

 of the same ; the rest of the lower parts white, very closely band- 

 ed with bright ferruginous brown, mixed with dusky brown ; 

 under tail coverts pure white. With increasing age the brown of 

 the upper parts become dark slaty, blackish on the head, and light 

 on the tail, and the transverse bands of the breast tend to coalesce, 

 and the lower belly to become whiter. In the female, after tlie 

 first moult, the breast is marked with oval light yellow brown drops, 

 and the abdomen with broadish bars. 



The adult male differs from the female in being more grey on 

 the upper parts ; in the breast and flanks being almost ferruginous, 



