61 ;• 



• > 



15 



with remains of a fifth, basal bar, outer feather with six bars ; lores and eyebrow white, streaked with 

 narrow lines of brown ; sides of the face white, the cheeks longitudinally marked with hair-like shaft- 

 stripes of brown, the ear-coverts along their upper margin pale tawny, with rather broader brown 

 shaft-stripes; throat also white, with a very few narrow linear streaks of brown; rest of the under 

 surface of the body white, the breast sparsely marked with oval spots of pale tawny, some of the 

 feathers also exhibiting remains of an irregular bar of brown ; towards the belly the tawny markings 

 are more arrow-shaped, those on the sides of the breast and flanks being larger and broader, and taking 

 on the latter the form of bands ; lower abdomen and under tail-coverts white, the latter indistinctly 

 tipped with pale tawny ; thighs whitish, irregularly marked with arrow-shaped spots and bars of brown ; 

 under wing-coverts creamy white, with a few irregular markings of brown. Total length 12 - 7 inches, 

 culmen 0"7, wing 8, tail 6"4, tarsus 21, middle toe, without claw, V25. 



The iris is stated by Mr. Robson to be "straw-yellow." In the fourth Plate will be seen a figure of this 

 young bird, well illustrating the characteristics of its plumage. We have a shrewd suspicion that there must 

 be another species or subspecies of Sparrow-Hawk in South-eastern Europe, of which probably the above bird 

 is the young, and the Palestine male in Canon Tristram's collection the adult. The wing is longer than 

 usual ; and in the old birds the markings on the flanks are peculiar. Lord Walden has one specimen from 

 India belonging apparently to this same subspecies. It is impossible, however, to speak with certainty on 

 this point, inasmuch as we are not thoroughly acquainted with all the changes through which the typical 

 A. nisus passes; but certainly these birds, both adults and young, are different from the British Sparrow- 

 Hawks. The figures given in the fourth Plate will serve to explain the differences suggested by us. In Lord 

 Walden's collection is another young male, shot by Mr. Robson at Pettin-a-hore, Turkey, on the 4th of April 

 1866. Curiously enough this example is still in immature plumage ; it belongs apparently to the same 

 subspecies as the foregoing young bird, but is darker brown above, and more barred below. The oval spots 

 on the breast are widening out into bars ; and there are more streaks on the throat ; the flanks also exhibit the 

 broad white interspaces alluded to in the Palestine specimens mentioned below. Bars on primaries six, on tail 

 six. Total length 13 - 3 inches, culmen 0'65, wing 7'8, tail 6"7, tarsus 2 - 15. The middle toe cannot be 

 measured, having been injured by a shot in both feet. Two females sent by Mr. Robson agree in colour and 

 markings with the Spanish examples in Mr. Howard Saunders's collection above referred to ; bars on wing six, 

 on tail five, on the outer rectrix six, but on the younger specimen five. 



Palestine. Canon Tristram has lent us four specimens from this country, all obtained by himself. One 

 is a female shot near Mount Tabor on the 12th of April 1864, and, from the faint remains of a tawny spot in 

 the centre of the pectoral cross bands, is evidently a bird of the previous year ; the rufous tuft on the flanks, 

 however, is very apparent. This specimen is thickly barred on the breast and thighs, the cross bars also 

 extending all over the abdomen on to the under tail-coverts. The general colour above is brown, with a shade 

 of clear grey on the rump, and a few dark greyish-brown feathers are appearing on the scapulars and upper 

 back, while the head is very dark greyish brown; bands on primaries seven, on tail six. Total length 15 

 inches, culmen 0'85, wing 9'5, tail 7'3, tarsus 2 - 4, middle toe, without claw, T65. A male shot by Canon 

 Tristram on January 9th, 1864, agrees with the adult males from Turkey in all respects, excepting that the 

 white interspaces on the flank-feathers are much broader; and this peculiarity is still further exhibited in 

 another fully adult male shot near Beersheba on the 2nd of February in the same year. In this latter bird 

 the bars on the breast are very broad, and of a brilliant orange rufous, as are also the flanks. In these two 

 old birds the bars on the primaries are seven and five in number respectively, on the tail five and four, the 

 more adult bird possessing the less number of bands. Total length 12'4-13"0 inches, culmen 065-07, 

 wing 8-0-8'l, tail 6'2-6 - 4, tarsus 2T5, middle toe, without claw, L35. The breadth of the bars on the breast 

 is also exhibited in a youug specimen shot near Gennesareth on the 9th of March, 1864. It is a very late date 

 for a young bird to be in the state of plumage in which we find this example ; and although the rufous edgings 



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