PALCONIDjE astue 



369 



The female is very similar in plumage and only slightly larger ; 

 length 120 ; wing 7-0. 



The young bird is darker above, a slaty-brown, the feathers 

 edged with rufous ; all the tail-feathers are distinctly banded with 

 about six dark cross bars ; cheeks and sides of the neck brown 

 striped with white; chin and throat white with a central brown 

 streak ; rest of the under surface white with oval drop-shaped spots 

 of pale rufous, becoming more bar-like on the flanks, thighs, and 

 abdomen ; the under tail-coverts plain. 



Iris yellow ; bill bluish-black ; cere and legs yellow. 



Distrikution. — The Little Banded Goshawk was first discovered 

 by Sir A. Smith "north of 26° s. lat.," i.e., in about the neigh- 

 bourhood of Mafeking ; it has been since obtained to the south of 

 this on the Orange river near Upington by Bradshaw, but is not 

 known from Cape Colony south of that river. In Natal it is rare, 

 but has been obtained by Graham Hutchinson and the Woodwards. 

 All over the Transvaal and Ehodesia it is comparatively abundant, 

 and in the Transvaal, Damaraland, and Namaqualand it is partially 

 migratory. North of the Zambesi it extends to South Angola, 

 Nyasaland, and German east Africa, and is replaced in the rest 

 of Africa and also in India by closely-allied species. 



Habits. — In Damaraland this bird is stated by Andersson to be 

 migratory, arriving at the beginning of the rains and leaving on the 

 approach of the dry season. The females arrive first, the males 

 a few days later, but the bulk of the birds seen are young ones 

 in first plumage. In the Transvaal, on the other hand, it is stated 

 by Ayres to be more abundant in the winter in the dry season. 

 This Goshawk is partial to well-wooded districts, where it seeks 

 shelter among the foliage and is never seen perching in conspicuous 

 situations. Mice, lizards, small birds, and insects form its diet. 

 Mr. Marshall gives the following account of it ; " This little Hawk is 

 one of our commonest birds of prey, and also one of the few which 

 reside here all the year round. It is by no means shy, sitting fairly 

 close within the foliage of the trees ; when disturbed it descends 

 with a low swooping flight, dodging in the bush, but for no great 

 distance, and rising abruptly to its perch. The nest is a neat 

 structure of sticks placed in the fork of a tree, about 15 to 20 feet 

 from the ground ; the eggs, which are three or four in number, are 

 dull white, with highly variable blotches of vandyke-brown and 

 underlying markings of liliac-grey, and measure 38 X 30 mm. {i.e., 

 1"50 X 1"20 inches). Stomachs contained lizards, snakes, locusts, 

 and winged termites." 



