as far south as Canton. I t visits most parts of India during
the cold weather, and is believed to breed in the Himalayas.
In Western Asia it penetrates to Arabia, and in Eastern
Africa to Kordofan. I t breeds, according to Loche, in
Algeria, and Dr. Bolle says the same of it in the Canaries.
In Germany, Switzerland, and some districts of France, a
local race or species, the Accipiter major of some authors, is
said to occur ; differing from A. nisus in its larger size, in
the absence of the slate-colour above and the rust-colour
beneath, and in the broader, darker and more numerous
bands of the tail. M. Gerbe, in his revised edition of the
1 Ornithologie Européenne ’ of the late Dr. Degland, enters
at some length upon these alleged differences, but the opinion
of most ornithologists, and probably the correct one, is that
the A. major is not a good species, or even a distinct race.
In the south of Bussia, the Levant, and most likely other
adjoining countries, there does, however, exist a second
species of Sparrow-Hawk, known under various names, of
which A. brevipes (Severzow), seems to be the correct one.
This differs notably from the Common Sparrow-Hawk in its
shorter toes. I t is the Falco gurneyi of Dr. Bree’s ‘ Birds
of Europe ’ (iv. p. 185).
The adult male Sparrow-Hawk measures about twelve
inches in length ; the beak blue, lightest at the base ; the
cere greenish-yellow, the irides orange ; the upper surface
generally, with the exception of a small white spot on the
nape, of a dark bluish slate-colour ; tail greyish-brown, with
from three to five dark transverse bands ; the chin, cheeks,
throat, breast, belly, thighs and under tail-coverts, rufous,
with numerous transverse bars of darker rufous-brown ;
legs and toes yellow ; the claws black.
The female is generally three inches longer than the
male ; the beak, bluish horn-colour ; cere yellowish, the
irides orange ; the top of the head, upper part of the neck,
except the white spot on the nape, back, wing- and tail-
coverts, brown, many of the feathers white at the base;
primaries and tail light brown, with dark transverse bars;
under surface of the neck, body, wing-coverts and thighs,
g r e y i s h - w h i t e , barred transversely with brown ; under surface
of the wing- and tail-quills of the same colour, but the light
and dark bars much broader; the first six primaries emar-
ginated; the first the shortest, the fourth and fifth equal
and the longest; the legs and toes yellow; the claws black.
The young male resembles the female; but the brown
feathers of the upper parts are edged with reddish-brown ;
the tail reddish-brown, particularly towards the base, with
dark transverse bauds as in the adult.
Some females, supposed to be very old, greatly resemble
the adult males, and white varieties have been several times
met with.