604 



of the feathers, which show conspicuously on the slightest disarrangement of the plumage; the tail 

 sepia-brown, rather paler than the back or wings, the shafts umber-brown ; it is crossed by five bars of 

 deep brown, the last one forming a broad band before the apex of the feather, which is pale tawny ; the 

 under surface of the tail is pale, inclining to silvery white, with whitish shafts, the bars across showing 

 with great distinctness ; under surface of the body pale tawny, deeper on the chest, and shading off 

 gradually into white on the abdomen and under tail-coverts; the throat whitish, with very distinct 

 streaks of brown down the centre of each plume ; the fore part of the chest mottled with spade-shaped 

 rufous spots at the end of each feather ; the lores, breast, and abdomen distinctly barred with transverse 

 cross-markings, rather broad and very plain ; the thighs deep tawny, with dull brown cross-markings ; 

 under wing-coverts pale tawny, with irregular cross-barrings of brown. 



Obs. The above description is taken from a specimen in Lord Walden J s collection, shot near Cookham, in 

 Berkshire, on the 8th of September, 1866, by the late Mr. Briggs. As the bird advances in age, the 

 changes in plumage are very similar to those undergone by the male : the tawny edgings become obsolete, 

 and the rufous shade of the under parts gets gradually paler, the cross-barrings becoming absorbed into 

 rather narrow transverse bars. The narrowness of the bars on the under surface is a test of the age of 

 the bird ; for as the latter progresses, so the cross bars become finer, till in the very old female they are 

 reduced on the upper breast to a few irregular triangular markings, being also very narrow and irregular 

 on the lower breast and abdomen ; in the fully mature female likewise the flanks have a tuft of bright 

 rufous plumes, and this is always a sure distinction of a very old bird. The persecution to which 

 Sp arrow- Hawks are subjected seldom permits of any individual attaining this dress; and we have only 

 seen one British example in Mr. Gurney's collection : of this specimen we add a short description. 



Fully adult Female. Above dark slaty grey, deeper on the head, the white bases of the feathers showing on 

 the nape and scapulars ; lores hoary white, not very distinctly indicated, produced backwards to the 

 eyebrow, which is likewise not very distinct, white in colour, with the very faintest tinge of tawny, and 

 streaked with brown ; ear-coverts dark slaty grey like the crown, but plainly mixed with rufous, the 

 cheeks entirely of the latter colour, longitudinally lined with slaty-grey shaft-stripes; scapulars and 

 wing-coverts coloured like the back, the least wing-coverts edged with very pale tawny on the carpal 

 bend ; quills dark greyish brown, with pale brown shafts ; the secondaries with a slight whitish edging 

 at the tip ; the under surface of the wing dull silvery white, the feathers rather shaded with buff at the 

 base ; the long primaries crossed with five distinct bars, not including the one at the tip of the feather, 

 the white interspaces very broad, nearly three times as broad as the bars themselves ; lower part of the 

 back and rump rather paler than the rest of the upper surface, the sides of the latter tinged slightly 

 with ruftms, the upper tail-coverts also edged faintly with rufous or whitish ; tail ashy grey above, paler 

 than the back, the shafts brown, all the feathers more or less distinctly tipped with whitish and crossed 

 by four blackish bands, the lowest being just concealed by the upper tail-coverts, and the last one being 

 separated from the whitish tip of the feather by a distinct, though not very broad, grey interspace ; on 

 the under surface of the tail, which is dull hoary white, the bars are very narrow, especially on the 

 outermost feathers ; chin whitish, but the rest of the throat distinctly washed with rufous, the shaft- 

 stripes plainly indicated, and on the feathers of the lower throat is a tiny spot of brown ; rest of the 

 under surface of the body whitish, the sides of the upper breast being washed with slaty grey and 

 slightly tinged with rufous ; the cross-barring on the lower part of the body narrow, and on the upper 

 breast nearly obsolete, being reduced to a triangular mark at the tip of the feather ; all the bars on the 

 sides of the body more or less tinged with rufous, and on the flanks is a very large tuft of rufous down, 

 with white tips to the plumes ; lower abdomen and under tail-coverts white, with a few obsolete brown 

 cross bars on the former; thighs pale rufous, with irregular narrow transverse markings of brown; 



