CIRCUS JARDINII, Gould. 



Mas. Circ. vertice, genis,plumisque auricularibus intense castaneis,fusco longitudinaliter notatis ; disco 

 fasciali,nuchd, dor so superiore, pectore necnon dor so imo, scapidaribusque, intense cinereis, his albo 

 leviter notatis; humeris, alis subtus, abdomine, femoribus, crissoque, castaneis, albo perpulchre nota- 

 tis ; tectricibus alarum fusco-cineraceis, irregulariter albo notatis ; secondariis cineraceis, fasciis 

 tribus fuscis anguste notatis, fascidque lata terminali ; primariis ad basin cervinis, per reliquas 

 partes nigris ; tectricibus caudaz superioribus fuscis, fascias albas, apicemque album ostendentibus ; 

 caudd cinereo fuscoque alter natim fasciatd ; rostro nigro ; pedibus flavis. 



Long. tot. 19 unc. ; alee, 16 ; caudm, 10 ; tarsi, 3f . 



Male. Crown of the head, cheeks, and ear-coverts dark chestnut, each feather having a mark of brown 

 down the centre ; facial disk, back of the neck, upper part of the back, and chest uniform dark grey ; 

 lower part of the back and scapulars dark grey, most of the feathers being blotched and marked at the tips 

 with two faint spots of white one on either side of the stem; shoulders, under surface of the wing, abdo- 

 men, thighs, and under tail-coverts rich chestnut, the whole of the feathers beautifully spotted with white, 

 the spots regularly disposed down each web, and being largest and most distinct on the abdomen ; 

 greater and lesser wing-coverts brownish grey, irregularly barred and tipped with a lighter colour ; 

 secondaries dark grey, crossed with three narrow lines of dark brown, and tipped with a broad band 

 of the same colour, the extreme tips being paler ; primaries black for two-thirds of their length, their 

 bases brownish buff ; upper tail-coverts brown, barred and tipped with greyish white ; tail alternately 

 barred with conspicuous bands of dark brown and grey, the brown band nearest the extremity being 

 the broadest, and the extreme tips greyish white ; bill black ; legs yellow. 



Syn. Circus Jardinii, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, Part V., 1837, male. 

 Circus assimilis, Jard. and Selb. 111. Orn., vol. i. pi. 51, female ? 



Remark. I am induced to believe that the bird figured by Messrs. Jardine and Selby under the 

 name of Circus assimilis will prove to be the female of this bird ; but as I am not quite certain, I have 

 thought it best to characterise the present bird under a new name ; at all events, the term assimilis 

 only applies to a young bird or a female. 



Habitat. Australia : locality, New South Wales. 



