355 
Mr. R. B. Sharpens Catalogue of Accipitres. 
que les couvertures; j^en ai tue cent fois et je m^en suis 
assure sur la nature/^ 
Verreaux^s view appears to have been in great measure 
shared by Finsch and Hartlaub^ who^ at p. 52 of their ^ Vogel 
Ost-A£rika’s/ speak of the female of H. ecaudatus as distin¬ 
guished from the male ^^are4 alari griseo-hrunnea multo 
majore/^ 
The late Sir Andrew Smith, on the contrary, when descri¬ 
bing this species in the ‘ South-African Quarterly Journal,^ 
referred to the grey-barred wing as common to both sexes; 
and in this view he is followed by Mr. Sharpe, though not, as 
I understand, on the authority of dissected specimens. 
Von Heuglin, who has given a useful figure of each of these 
phases of plumage on tab. ii. of his ^ Ornithologie Nord-Ost 
Afrika^s,^ also appears not to have considered the banded 
wing peculiar to the female, but seems to have been unable 
to satisfy himself as to the true significance of this difference. 
Prof. Barboza du Bocage is disposed to consider the differ¬ 
ence in question to be due to age, and remarks, at p. 42 of 
his work on the Birds of Angola, ^^nous croyons, d^apres 
ce que nous avons pu observer sur des individus vivants de 
cette espece, que les remiges secondaires, d^abord toutes 
noires, deviennent, avec le progres de Page, grises marquees 
d^une bande terminale noire.^^ 
I cannot say that I agree with this view, as I have seen no 
such change in progress in the living birds which have come 
under my notice in this country, and as I think that I have 
been able to trace in some of the skins which I have examined 
a passage from the immature dress to the black-winged phase 
in some individuals, and to the grey-winged in others. 
My own observations have been too limited to be of much 
service in deciding the question at issue; but, as far as they 
go, they tend to confirm the view held by M. Verreaux. 
I have had no opportunity of examining an adult male the 
sex of which I was able to feel certain had been verified 
by dissection; but I have examined four adults ticketed as 
females, in regard to all of which there is reasonable ground 
for believing that the sex had been so verified, and all of 
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