SPOTTED HARRIER. 
Circus assimilis assimilis Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 244, 1912 ; id., last Birds 
Austr., p. 102, 1913. 
Circus assimilis rogersi Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 244, 1912 : Pitzroy River, 
North-west Australia ; id., List Birds Austr., p. 102, 1913. 
Range. Australia ; Tasmania. Extra-limital. 
Three subspecies may be recognised, but their distribution is not well determined : 
one from East Australia, one from North-west Australia, and one from 
Celebes, etc. 
Meyer and Wiglesworth (Birds of Celebes, p. 9, 1898) wrote : “ If stationary, 
differences might be expected to have arisen between Celebes and Australian 
birds : nevertheless, the numerous specimens in the British and Leyden Museums 
appear to be quite similar.” I record differences hereafter. 
Adult female. Upper-surface ash-grey, or blue-grey everywhere spotted with white ; 
head and hind-neck dark brown, the feathers broadly margined with rufous ; back, 
rump and upper tail-coverts greyish-brown with twin grey spots on each feather ; 
on the scapulars the twin spots have developed into bars ; lesser wing-coverts 
greyish-brown tipped with rufous and barred with white or grey ; median coverts 
like the back, greater coverts like the scapulars ; primary-quills almost uniform 
black mottled with rufous on the inner webs and crossbars of dark brown and hoary 
grey on the outer webs ; bastard-wing, primary-coverts and secondaries blue-grey 
with dark cross-bars and edged with whitish at the tips with, more or less, sandy-buff 
on the inner webs ; the feathers on the sides of the rump rufous with twin white spots ; 
tail grey with six dark brown cross-bars ; sides of face and throat rufous ; ruff on 
lower throat grey edged with rufous ; entire imder-surface, including the under 
wing-coverts and under tail-coverts, rufous streaked or spotted with white. Bill 
black, iris yellow ; cere olive-yellow ; tarsi and feet yellowish-green. Total length 
600 mm. ; culmen 34, wing 454, tail 290, tarsus 100. Collected at Blackwood, 
South Australia. 
Adult male. Similar to the adult female but smaller. 
Distribution. Queensland, New South Wales ; Victoria ; Tasmania ; South Australia ; 
South and Mid-west Australia. 
Birds from North-west Australia and Northern Territory are much darker than 
those from the eastern part of Australia. 
Adult male. General colour above dark slate-grey with white or grey spots and edgings 
to the feathers ; head dark brown intermixed with maroon chestnut, this colour 
becoming uniform on the throat and sides of face ; lesser wing-coverts on inner 
portion of wing maroon-chestnut with twin spots of white, outer lesser coverts lead- 
grey also with twin spots of white like the median and greater coverts ; quiUs much 
the same as in the female described above but the darker feathers on the sides of 
the rump have white spots ; tail grey crossed by six dark brown bars and tipped 
with white ; under-surface rich chestnut everywhere spotted or streaked with white. 
Bill bluish-black ; cere olive-yellow ; eyes and feet yellow. Total length 565 mm. ; 
culmen 30, wing 393, tail 250, tarsus 90. Figured. Collected on the Fitzroy River, 
North-west Australia, in August, 1898. 
Adult female. Same as the adult male but larger. Wing 437 mm., tarsus 99. Collected at 
Alexander, Northern Territory, in June, 1905. 
Immature female. Similar to the adult female described from South Australia but with 
more rufous spotting above, especially on the wing-coverts ; hind-neck more 
streaked with rufous ; under-surface rufous-brown longitudinally streaked with 
white ; under wing-coverts and axillaries spotted much the same as those already 
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