207 
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with darker rufous; under surface of wings and tail light fawn-colour varied with grey. A narrow white 
fringe, varied with brown, encircles the throat, terminating behind the ear-coverts ; hill bluish black ; cere 
dull greenish yellow, brighter on the ridge ; legs and feet bright lemon-yellow ; claws black ; irides bright 
yellow. Length 22' 5 inches ; extent of wings 52'5 ; wing, from flexure, 17 ; tail 10; tarsus 4; middle toe 
and claw 2'5 ; hind toe and claw 1'75 ; bill, along the ridge 1'5, along the edge of lower mandible 1'5. 
Adult female. Slightly larger than the male, but differing very little in plumage. The tints generally are 
lighter, the edges of the scapulars are rufous white instead of brown ; and the wings are varied with rufous 
and white, especially towards the flexure. Length 23 inches ; extent of wings 54. 
Young. In the young bird the whole of the plumage is chocolate-brown, darker on the upper parts, and edged 
with paler brown ; hind part of the neck varied with white, and tinged with rufous ; upper tail-coverts 
rufous brown, with paler tips and fulvous at the base, sometimes white barred with rufous brown. Cere and 
legs yellow ; irides dark brown. 
Nestling. Covered with very thick or woolly down of a huffy white or pale yellowish cream-colour, darker on the 
upper surface. Bill and legs yellow. The feathers appear first on the shoulders, wings, and tail ; these are 
blackish brown, the tail-feathers with rufous tips. 
Fledgling. Has the plumage of the underparts much suffused with brown, the primary wing-coverts and the 
scapulars with a filamentous fringe of rufous; a similar fringe on the secondaries but paler; tail-feathers 
and their upper coverts largely and somewhat irregularly marked at the tips with rufous ; feathers of the 
nape edged with darker rufous. 
A well-feathered fledgling in my collection, with rectrices more than four inches long, has still some 
fulvous-white down adhering to the crop, flanks, and upper edges of wings. Claws well developed and 
very sharp. 
Progress towards maturity. Upper parts dark brown with a purple gloss ; the tail with five rather obscure bars 
of black, about half an inch apart, and darkest towards the tip ; upper tail-coverts delicate fawn-colour, 
with the centre of each feather brown, shaded off on the sides. The wing-coverts have a coppery hue, and 
the longer ones, together with the scapulars, are narrowly tipped with rufous white. LTndei parts bright 
chocolate-brown, tinged with rufous, especially on the neck and abdomen ; tibial plumes rufous brown. 
Cere and legs yellow; beak and claws black; irides bright yellowish brown. 
Obs. It must be noted that individuals differ, more or less, in the details of their colouring during their 
progress towards maturity *. With extreme age, the fulvous of the lower parts changes to white, and the 
brown markings become much narrower, being almost obsolete on the tibial plumes. The silvery grey on 
the quills and tail-feathers increases, while the rufous colouring diminishes, and the lining of the wings 
becomes pure white, with narrow shaft-lines of dark brown. There is a beautiful albino specimen in the 
Nelson Museum. 
The present species is spread over a wide geographical area ; for not only is it found in all parts of 
our own 'country, but it also occurs in Australia and Tasmania, and extends eastward to the Fiji 
Islands. Mr. J. H. Gurney has already drawn attention (Ibis, 1870, p. 536) to the fact that our 
Harrier is exactly the same species as that figured by Mr. Gould in the ‘ Birds of Australia under 
the name of Circus assimilis. The true Circus assimilis of Jardine and Selby (111. Orn. ii. pi. 51) 
has proved, however, to be only the young of Circus jardinii, also figured in the ‘ Birds of Australia 
(pi. 27) ; and therefore the New-Zealand Harrier bears the name ot Circus gouldi, Bonap. (1. c.) f. 
* My eldest son, writing to me from Horowhcuna on the 6th of May, 1881, says : “ I shot a beautiful Harrier yesteida), 
winging it when very nearly out of range. The plumage is handsomely mottled, and on the upper surface of the wings there is 
a steel-blue lustre ; the breast yellowish white ; lower part of body and tibials nearly pure white. Instead of the unpleasant 
odour peculiar to these carrion-feeders, it has a ‘ wood)' ’ smell like that of the Kaka.” 
t Dr. Finsch writes: — “ A comparison of specimens in the Leiden Museum from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and New 
Caledonia has fully convinced me of their identity. The specimen from New Caledonia ( 0 . woljii, Gurney) does not show a 
