Plate XIV. 



ACCIPITER CHIONOGASTER. 



(WHITE-CHESTED SPAEEOW-HAWK). 



Nisus chionog aster 

 Accipiter erythrocnemis 



Kaup. P.Z.S. 1851, p. 41. 



Scl. et Salv. Ibis, 1859, p. 218, 



Salvin, Ibis, 1861, p. 140. 



Sclater, P.Z.S. 1866, p. 64, (partim.) 



Supra fumido-niger ; subtus albus, guise et pectoris plumarum rachidibus angustissime nigris : tibiis pallide rufes- 

 centibus : cauda fusco-nigra, fasciis quatuor transversis supra grisesceuti-fuscis subtus albidis, margine quoque apicali 

 albo : alarum remigibus subtus albo nigroque transvittatis ; subalaribus pectore coucoloribus : rostro nigro, pedibus 

 flavis, unguibus nigris. Mem. mari similis, sed major : long, tota 14'0, alas 8*0, caudal 65, tarsi 2-2, dig. medii cum 

 uugue 2"0. 



Hab. in Guatemala. 



This Sparrow-hawk was first described by Dr. Kaup, from specimens in the Derby Museum, 

 procured by Delattre in the vicinity of Coban, Vera Paz. Mr. Salvin, during his various 

 excursions in Guatemala, met with it not unfrequently in the same country, having obtained 

 examples near Lanquin, Ohoctum, and San Geronimo, all in the Province of Vera Paz. A 

 single specimen was likewise obtained in the Pacific Coast-region below Duenas, which shows 

 that the bird is pretty generally distributed over the whole of Guatemala. Nothing special was 

 noted as to its habits, which quite resemble those of our well-known A. nisus. 



As will be seen by our list of synonyms, we have hitherto always referred this bird to 

 the Brazilian Accipiter erythrocnemis, of which it is doubtless the northern representative. But 

 a recent comparison of Mr. Salvin's series of specimens with the typical examples of the Brazilian 

 species in the British Museum, has convinced us that there are good grounds for separating the 

 two forms. In Accipiter erythrocnemis the tibiae are deep rufous — almost chestnut, as its name 

 imports — the lower surface over the chest and flanks is transversely barred, and, though these 

 markings become somewhat obsolete in the adult, they never appear to vanish entirely. In the 

 present species, so far as we are acquainted with it, there are no signs of transverse markings 

 below in any stage. A skin of this bird in Mr. Salvin's collection, which presents indications 

 of immaturity in having narrow light margins to the wing-coverts, precisely resembles the adult 

 in its lower plumage. 



Our figure is taken from the female specimen shot at Lanquin, as mentioned by Mr. Salvin 

 in " The Ibis." In an early number of the present work, we propose to give a figure of the true 

 A. erythrocnemis, and to point out the differences between the two species more in detail. 



January, 1867. 



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