603 



without including the brown tip, which is seen on all the feathers ; tail brown, all the feathers more or 

 less washed with ashy, the two centre feathers partaking especially of this colour, the shafts brown ; 

 across the end of each tail-feather runs a broad bar of dark brown, the extreme tips of the feathers 

 being white ; the middle tail-feathers crossed with four bands of dark brown, much narrower than the 

 interspaces between, the apical band being the broadest of all ; on the outer tail-feathers is seen the 

 appearance of a fifth dark band, which, however, is so near the base as to be hardly observable ; lores as 

 well as an indistinct eyebrow whitish, with a slight fulvous tinge ;. ear-coverts dark grey, like the rest 

 of the head ; cheeks and sides of the neck white, with a very strong tinge of rufous, the feathers of the 

 former mesially streaked with dark brown ; throat white, slightly tinged with rufous, and having the 

 same dark streaks as on the cheeks; rest of the under surface of the body dull white, crossed with 

 transverse bars of pale rufous, the sides of the breast and flanks being entirely of this colour ; most of 

 these rufous bars are more or less tinged with brown, which takes the form of a narrow line running 

 parallel with the bar itself; on the chest are some very distinct indications of mesial stripes ; the white 

 interspaces are broader on the lower part of the breast and abdomen ; the under tail- coverts white, only 

 the basal portion being irregularly barred with pale narrow rufous markings ; the flanks rufous near 

 the base and along the inner side of the leg, the transverse bars being very narrow but very distinct; 

 bill dark horn-blue, the base of the lower mandible yellowish ; the cere and feet yellow, the nails black ; 

 iris orange. Total length 12 inches, culmen 065, wing 7'9, tail 6 - 5, tarsus 2'15, middle toe without 

 claw 1-3. 



Fully adult Male. Differs from the foregoing description, which is that of an ordinary adult male, in the 

 following particulars. The upper surface of the body is entirely deep blackish grey, of a cindery hue; 

 the whole of the under surface is a rich rufous, chin and throat included. On the latter, as well as on 

 the fore part of the chest, are some faint black hair-like streaks running down the centre of the feathers ; 

 on the breast are some indistinct mottlings of greyish brown, the remains of the cross bars of the 

 former mature but not fully adult dress ; the lower part of the breast and abdomen all alternately barred 

 with rufous and white, the interspaces, of the last-named colour, being very broad; the under tail- 

 coverts are white, excepting the usual dusky cross-barrings at the base of the feathers ; the lores, eye- 

 brow, and cheeks are uniform deep rufous; the ear-coverts deep blackish grey like the head, but 

 sUghtly dashed with rufous : iris rust-colour or carmine. 



Female. 



Nestling. As before noticed, the hen Sparrow- Hawk may be distinguished at a very early age by its much 

 larger size and by its stouter and thicker leg. In plumage the young female much resembles the male, 

 but is not quite so rufous underneath. The full-grown bird may be described as follows : — 



Young Female. Above dull sepia-brown, the head darker, the nape showing the white bases of the feathers, 

 which gives it the appearance of being streaked with white, while a strong rusty tint is also apparent, 

 all the feathers of the upper surface being more or less distinctly margined with this colour ; the ear- 

 coverts very dark sepia-brown, as dark as the crown, and only the fore part of the cheeks, as well as the 

 lores and a narrow eyebrow, rufous white striped with brown ; the hind part of the cheeks, as well as 

 the sides of the neck, dark sepia-brown, mottled with rufous ; wing-coverts coloured like the back with 

 the same margins to the feathers, the greater coverts perhaps being a little lighter-edged ; quills dark 

 brown, with umber-brown shafts ; the inner face of the primaries silky white, of the secondaries pale 

 tawny, all the feathers barred across with dark greyish brown, the long primaries having six distin- 

 guishable bars, not including the end of the quill, which is of the same colour as the cross bars ; the 

 outer edge of the primaries and the tips of the secondaries are faintly margined with greyish white, the 

 inner secondaries, however, being tipped with pale tawny ; on the scapulars may be seen the white bases 



