84 



albido fasciatis, primariis nonnullis et secundariis vix schistaceo apicatis : cauda cserulescenti-schistacea, 

 fascia magna subapicali notata et quinque fasciis obsoletis nigro-fuscis transfasciata, : capitis lateribus 

 albis nigro-fusco striatis, superciliis, regione parotica et colli lateribus rufescente lavatis : mento et gula 

 albis immaculatis : corpore subtus albido, rufescente lavato et nigro-fusco striato : tibiae plumis rufes- 

 centibus, fere immaculatis : rostro cserulescenti-corneo : cera et pedibus flavis, unguibus nigris : iride 

 fusca. 



$ ad. mari dissimilis : major, corpore suprS, brunneo vix griseo tincto, plumis omnibus centraliter nigro-fusco 

 striatis et rufescente brunneo marginatis et guttatis, pileo saturatiore : collo postico rufescenti-albido, 

 brunneo notato : alis rufescentioribus quam in mare, fasciis in pogonio interno rufescenti-cervinis nee 

 albis : caudal saturate brunnea vix griseo lavata, rufescente cervino fasciata, et albido apicata : mento et 

 gula, albis fere immaculatis : corpore subtus albido, valde brunneo striato, subcaudalibus et crisso albis 

 centraliter vix fusco striatis : tibiae plumis vix cervino lavatis. 



Adult Male (Malta, October 1861). Forehead dirty white, crown and nape dark ashy blue, with a slaty 

 tinge, all the feathers on the forehead, crown, and nape with blackish central stripes, fore part of the 

 back crossed by a narrow rufous collar, the sides of the nape being also rufous; back, rump, upper tail- 

 coverts, inner secondaries, and wing-coverts clear slaty blue, all the feathers having dark shaft-stripes ; 

 quills blackish, closely barred on the inner web with white, some of the primaries and the secondaries 

 with narrow slaty-blue tips, and most of the quills with obsolete slaty markings on the basal portion of 

 the outer web ; tail slaty blue, paler than the back, with a broad subterminal black band, and remains 

 of five other bands at regular intervals between the base of the tail and the large band ; sides of the 

 head and neck whitish, narrowly striped with blackish, and on the eyebrows, ear-coverts, and sides of 

 the neck washed with rufous ; chin and upper throat pure white ; rest of the underparts white strongly 

 washed with rufous, and broadly striped with blackish brown, the long thigh-feathers, however, are pale 

 rufous, almost unstriped ; bill bluish horn, darker at the tip ; cere and legs yellow, claws black ; iris 

 dark brown. Total length 11 inches, culmen - 7, wing 7 - 9, tail 53, tarsus 1-45. 



Adult Female (Stettin, April) . Differs considerably from the male, not only in size but in plumage ; upper 

 parts dark brown, with a faint greyish tinge, all the feathers with blackish shaft-stripes, and edged and 

 spotted with reddish brown, those on the crown being darkest, and least marked with reddish brown ; 

 hind neck intermixed with greyish white and pale reddish white ; wings browner than in the male, the 

 barrings being pale reddish or warm buff instead of white ; tail dark brown, with a faint greyish tinge, 

 crossed by six rufous buff bands, and tipped with buffy white ; chin and upper throat nearly pure white, 

 rest of the underparts white, very broadly striped with dark brown, the feathers being in fact dark 

 brown with very broad white lateral margins ; under tail-coverts and crissum white, with narrow shaft- 

 stripes; thigh-feathers slightly washed with buff. Culmen - 75, wing 8"5, tail 59, tarsus l - 55. 



Young Male (Malta) . Closely resembles the female, but is a little greyer on the tail and rump, the under- 

 parts are less strongly marked with brown, and the crown and back are more rufous. 



Nestling in down. Covered with white down slightly tinged with pale creamy buff. 



Obs. I note that (in his Catalogue of Accipitres, p. 407) Mr. Sharpe says that the adult female is " similar 

 to the male, but a little larger," which is quite contrary to the testimony of Macgillivray, Naumann, 

 Nilsson, and other ornithologists, who have had the amplest opportunities of observing this bird in a 

 natural state ; and I may add that, although I have had numbers through my hands, all carefully sexed 

 by myself or others, I have never seen a female which could be said to be similar to the male. It may 

 therefore be as well to add a few remarks respecting the specimens before me, which, I may say, fully 



