ASTUK BADIUS. 
(THE INDIAN GOSHAWK.) 
Falco badius , Gm. S. N. i. p. 280 (1788). 
Accipiter dulchunensis , Sykes, P. Z. S. 1832, p. 79. 
Accipiter badius , Strickl. Ann. N. PI. xiii. p. 33 (1844); Kelaarts Prodromus, at. p. 
Layard, Ann. & Mag. N. H. 1853, xii. p. 104. 
Micronisus badius , Bp. Consp. i. p. 33; Jerdon, B. of Ind. i. p. 48; Hume, Bough Notes, i. 
p. 117; Holdsworth, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 411; Hume, Nests and Eggs, l. p. 24; Legge, 
Ibis, 1875, p. 276. 
Astnr badius , Sharpe, Cat. Birds, i. p. 109 (1874) ; David and Oustalet, Ois. de la Chine, p. 24. 
Scelospizias badius, Gurney, Ibis, 1875, p. 360. 
The Brown Hawk, Brown, 111. Zool. p. 6, pi. 3 (17 /6). 
The Shikra, Jerdon. Indian Sparrow-Hawk, popularly in India. 
Shikra (female), Chipka (male), Hind.; Chinna-Wallur, Tam. (apud Jerdon). 
Browns Sparrow-Hawk, Kelaart. 
Ukussa, Sinhalese south of Ceylon ; Kurula-goya in north. 
i» n i -i p» i -i q.q ]nf*V\ps • ul men from cere 0*6 to 0*63 5 wing 6*9 to / 9 \ tml o o to 
Adult male. Length to front of cere ll’o to 1^ 5 . n A . ‘hinrl toe 0*6 its claw (straight') 
6-2; tarsus 175 to 1-0 ; middle toe TO to T12, its claw (straight) 0-4 to 0-45 ; hind toe 0 6, Us claw (straight) 
06 ; height ol hill at cere 0'34 to 0 - 36. „ . » r.i 7-a 
The largest examples do not equal those from Northern India ; the average length of wmg o ^ y e Uow 
Iris usually light crimson or orange-red, in very old examples fine crimson; cere and o ( 
the top of the generally greenish bill bluish, darkening at the tip ; tarsi and feet yellow, the front of tarsus 
Abo," the -mp -d »PP« tuil-eotert, , top of the heed «d the ».p. 
and a ruddy tinge generally on the hind neck ; quills ashy brown, the inner webs for two thirds of their lengt 
from the base edged and barred with white, the brown interspaces being darker than the rest of the feather . 
beyond the notch there are indications of darkish bars ; tertials and scapulars with a large concealed white patch 
down their centres ; tail bluish grey, tipped with whitish ; central feathers unbarred, but slightly darker toward 
the tip ; the outer feathers with faint brown bars towards the base of the inner web, the next with five Tars 
the same web; the two adjacent with four, which sometimes extend to the outer web; the barring of the ou t 
tail-feathers varies in extent even in birds which are similarly pale throughout their plumage ; lores greyish ; chin 
and gorge white; cheeks, ear-coverts, and a narrow chin-stripe cinereous grey ; chest, breast, and flanks pa e 
sienna-colour, narrowly barred with white, which in no two specimens is alike*, being in some open and m others 
very close, particularly on the chest ; belly, thighs, and under tail-coverts, with the sides of the upper coverts, 
white, the bars gradually fading out on the lower breast; under wing and lower surface of qui s ru esccn w i e 
In a slightly younger stage of the adult plumage the upper surface is darker and pervaded with a cineieous ue , e 
bars on the inner web of the outer tail-feather extend nearly to the tip, and on the adjacent one t ere are a, 
many as in the young bird. 
Adult female. Length to front of cere 12-6 to 13-8 ; culmen from cere 0-63 to 0-65 ; wing 7*7 to 8'2 ; tail 6 5 to 6 b , 
tarsus 2-0 to 2-2 ; mid toe 1-25. . , 
Eemales, except perhaps those that are very old, are browner on the upper surface than male s ; the barring ol the unt er 
* In one remarkable specimen from Hva the entire under surface, from the throat to the lower breast, is openly 
barred, the width of the white bands being the same throughout. 
