611 



13 



Total length 16 inches, culmen l - 8, wing 9'4, tail 7 - 6, tarsus 25, middle toe, without claw, l - 65. Although 

 one of Mr. Benzon's Danish specimens is about equal in size to this bird, we have never yet seen any thing 

 approaching the bluish slate-colour of the back. Two female Sparrow-Hawks from Ursern are equal in general 

 stature to the specimen above noticed ; they are not quite so old, but, like that bird, are very thickly barred 

 underneath, the cross bars being very numerous on the legs, and even extending on to the under tail-coverts. 

 One of these is slightly younger than the other, and has the remains of tawny edgings to the upper plumage ; 

 but on the breast the mottling of the chest-feathers has all but disappeared, and the stripes on the throat are 

 very distinct, collecting in the centre, and forming a plain median streak; bars on primaries seven, with 

 remains of an eighth basal one, on the tail six, on the outer rectrix eight. Total length 17 inches, culmen 0"8, 

 wing 9'3, tail 7'7, tarsus 2'5, middle toe, without claw, T65. The other specimen (in Mr. Saunders's collection) 

 is rather older, and is more grey on the back ; the under surface is equally barred, but the stripes on the throat 

 are not so plain ; bars on primaries and on tail five, with remains of a sixth at the base of each, the same 

 number on the outer one. We have received from Mr. Schliiter a still younger female, which, beyond the fact 

 that the colour is generally paler and the throat rather thickly striped, does not seem to differ materially from 

 more northern examples of the same age ; bars on primaries and on tail six, on the outer rectrix seven, the 

 basal and apical bars being nearly obsolete. These last two birds measure as follows : — Total length 15 - 4-16 

 inches, culmen 0"8, wing 8'8, tail 7 - 5, tarsus 2'3, middle toe, without claw, l - 65. We believe that all these 

 female birds belong to the large race of Sparrow-Hawk said by naturalists to inhabit Switzerland ; and they are 

 certainly bigger than the general run of specimens ; on the other hand, however, they are equalled in dimen- 

 sions by some English individuals, though whether these, as well as the Swiss resident birds, exhibit permanent 

 differences from the true A. nisus of Sweden has yet to be determined. If we are correct in supposing these 

 four female specimens to be A. major, then our birds present exactly opposite characters to those adduced by 

 M. de Brecourt in the work of M. Gerbe above quoted. They are more grey than is usual in the ordinary 

 species, and the wings are not shorter. As regards the colour and number of the tail-bands, these vary with 

 age, though we have yet seen only one specimen besides the Swiss female with as many as eight bands on the 

 outer feather; yet the other female (in Mr. Saunders's collection) procured from the same place by the same 

 collector, has only six. At present our experience on the subject is this, viz. that Swiss specimens are some- 

 what larger, much more closely and numerously barred underneath, and have the throat more distinctly and 

 thickly striped ; the males seem scarcely to differ. 



Spain. Major Irby has given us a female specimen shot by himself near Gibraltar, which is very pale 

 brown, as are also two other females procured by Mr. Howard Saunders in the Sierra Nevada in March 1871. 

 They are whitish about the cheeks, eyebrow, and nape, and also on the underparts, while the edgings to the 

 upper plumage are very pale. None of these birds are quite mature ; but two of them have seven bands on the 

 primaries and six on the tail, while the third one has six on the primaries and five on the tail ; but even this 

 specimen has six on the outer rectrix like the other two. The cross-barring on the under surface is very close, 

 and comes low down on to the belly; and in Major Irby's bird the bars on the axillars are not parallel. Total 

 length 14'8-15'2 inches, culmen 0-8, wing 8 - 8-9'2, tail 7 - 5-7 - 8, tarsus 2 - 3-2 - 4, middle toe, without claw, 1-65. 

 Two females from Seville, obtained on the 18th of November and the 27th of December, 1867, are darker and 

 more slaty than the foregoing examples. The former has the remains of edgings to the feathers of the upper 

 surface ; but they are tawny and not whitish ; this colour also pervades the nape and hinder neck ; bars on 

 primaries seven, on tail six, on the outer rectrix eight. The bird killed in December is decidedly clear slaty 

 grey on the upper surface, with no remains of tawny edgings ; but on the under surface there is a trace of the 

 central tawny spots, showing that the bird still retains evidences of immaturity. This specimen is interesting, 

 as it seems to indicate that a bird in the south of Europe gains its adult dress even before the end of the year 

 in which it was hatched. Bars on primaries six, with an obsolete seventh basal bar, on tail six, on the outer 

 rectrix eight, with the faint remains of a ninth at the base of the feather. Total length 14 - 4-14 - 7 inches, 

 culmen 08, wing 93, tail 7'6, tarsus 2 - 4, middle toe, without claw, T6-T65. A young male, also in Mr. 



