ACCIPITER POLYZONOIDES.
DIMENSIONS.
Inches. Lines.
Length from the tip of the bill to the
point of the tail................... 13 0
of the bill to the angle of the
month................................... 0 10
of the wings when folded....... 7 9
Length of the tail..........
the tarsus ....,
the outer toe .
the middle toe.
the inner toe...
Inches. Lines.
. 6 0
. 1 9
• 0 7
. 0 10£
. 0 6
The male is rather smaller than the female, but the colours are nearly alike.
Only a few specimens -of this species were obtained, and those to the north of 26° south
latitude. Their manner of flight was exactly that of the common sparrow-hawk, and they
frequented principally the banks o f rivers where small birds, upon which they appeared chiefly
to depend for their food, were abundant.
There are three South African species of the genus Accipiter, with which the present species
may, at first sight, possibly be confounded. From the first, Accipiter polyzonus, Temm., it is
readily to be distinguished merely by its inferior size, and the lighter tints of its upper plumage,
but should more definite diagnostic characters be required, they will be found in the colouring
o f the tail. In A . polyzonus almost the whole colour of the tail consists of three dark transverse
hands; those of the inner vanes of the two middle feathers being distinctly edged, anteriorly,
with pure white. From the second, A . gabar, it will at once be distinguished by its wanting the
white rump; and from the third, A . minulus, by its superior size, and by the bands of its tail
being more numerous: In A . minulus there are only three bands, each of which is very broad.
These three, however, are not-the only species with which it may possibly be confounded;
there is another belonging to the East Indies, to which it approaches even more closely; indeed,
the resemblance between them is so great, that we were at first disposed to regard them as
identical. Upon close examination, however, we were able to detect many discrepancies. The
characters of the species discovered by the Expedition, having been already given, we shall,
therefore, only instance certain appearances of the Accipiter Desumierii, the name giyen to
the Indian form by Temminck,* and leave the reader to refer to the description of the corresponding
parts of our species. In A . Desumierii, the bill is rather large for the size pf the
bird, and is broad and convex, particularly towards the base; the cere is livid; the festoon is
much developed, and marked with a large yellow blotch; the eyebrows and space in front of
the eyes are white; the sides of the head, the earcoverts, and the sides of the neck are'light
rufous, the two first slightly mottled with short delicate brown stripes; the chin and throat are
white, with a dark central line; the breast and belly are banded with rufous. The wings
when folded do not reach so far as the first half o f the ta il; the bands o f the tail are narrow,
and in adult specimens rarely extend across the outer vanes; the two middle tail feathers are
of a uniform grey colour, and without any appearance o f bands; the tarsi are two inches
and two lines in length.
In addition to the species here figured, the following specimens of the genus Accipiter occur
in South Africa.
Accipiter polyzonus. Falco polyzonos, Temm.
Accipiter gabar. Le Gabar, Leoaill. Ois. d ’Afrique, pi. 33.
Accipiter niger. Sparvius niger, Vieill. Gal. des. Ois. pi. 22.
Accipiter tackero. Le Tachero, Leoaill. Ois. d' Afrique, pi, 24.
Accipiter minulus. Le Minule, Leoaill. Ois. d*Afrique, pi. 34.
Accipiter rufmentris. Falco exilis, Temm. PI. col. pi. 496.
* Planches colores, Plate 496.