Part 84

This genus is closely related to Astur but the plumage is always more or less mottled or barred and the middle toe is relatively longer; culmen from front margin of cere less than half the middle toe without claw; notch in upper mandible less pronounced.

Species.

a1. Under parts with wide dark bars, with wide shaft-stripes, or with large round drop-like spots; tarsus of male, 42; of female, 44.

b1. Fourth primary considerably longer than fifth. ... gularis (p. 219) b2. Fourth primary but slightly longer than fifth. ... virgatus (p. 220)

a2. Under parts nearly uniform dull chestnut, abdomen, flanks, and thighs narrowly barred with white; tarsus of male, 48; of female, 54. ... manillensis (p. 220)

179. ACCIPITER GULARIS (Temminck and Schlegel).

JAPANESE SPARROW HAWK.

Astur (nisus) gularis Temminck and Schlegel, Fauna Japonica, Aves (1850), 5, pl. 2. Accipiter gularis Grant, Ibis (1896), 104; Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 254; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 41. Accipiter virgatus Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1874), 1, 150 (part).

Calayan (McGregor); Cebu (McGregor); Fuga (Whitehead); Mindanao (Koch & Schadenberg). Japan, northern China; in winter to Malay Peninsula and Malay Archipelago.

Adult.--Above including wings, blackish slate, the bases of the feathers pure white with a tendency to show on the nape; ear-coverts and sides of neck slaty gray, the feathers edged with rufous; sides of face slate, lined with white; chin and throat white with blackish shaft-lines; breast and sides vinous-chestnut; abdomen and under tail-coverts white; quills blackish, inner webs white basally; secondaries and inner primaries barred with blackish; under wing-coverts and axillars pale ochraceous; tail ashy brown crossed by five bars of blackish brown, seven bars on outermost pair. Male, length, 273; wing, 190; tail, 124; culmen from base, 18; tarsus, 45; middle toe with claw, 33. Female, length, 295; wing, 205; tail, 148; culmen from base, 18; tarsus, 42; middle toe with claw, 34.

Immature.--Upper parts dark brown, most of the feathers edged with rusty or earthy brown; under parts white with wide bars of light rusty brown. This plumage is followed by one in which the under parts are white with wide shaft-streaks of blackish brown. Specimens occur with the fore breast streaked and the hind breast, sides, and flanks barred and with individual feathers both barred and streaked. The acquisition of adult plumage probably takes some time, two or three years.

The preceding descriptions are taken from birds collected in Calayan Island and while none of them shows the complete adult plumage, one specimen has the breast partly chestnut indicating the adult plumage.

Grant characterizes A. gularis as follows:

"Female adult.--Like A. nisus, being barred transversely up to the throat, which is white, with a more or less well-marked dark line down the middle, formed by the very narrow black or grayish-black shaft-stripes to the feathers. Fourth primary quill longest and considerably longer than the fifth.

"Male adult.--Throat white, the line of feathers down the middle with black shafts, forming a very narrow black central line, absent in the most adult examples. The fourth primary quill longest, and considerably longer than the fifth."

180. ACCIPITER VIRGATUS (Temminck).

INDIAN SPARROW HAWK.

Falco virgatus Temminck, Pl. Col. (1823), 1, pl. 109. Accipiter virgatus Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1874), 1, 150 (part); Hand-List (1899), 1, 253; Everett, Ibis (1895), 38. Accipiter gularis McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 41 (part).

Palawan (Everett). Southern India, Ceylon, Andamans, and Greater Sunda Islands.

"Adult male.--Above deep blackish slate-color, the nape slightly mottled with white, the crown and wing-coverts a little darker; quills dark brown, shaded with slate-color, without any bars above, the under surface paler and more ashy, inclining to pale rufous near the base of inner web, with blackish cross-bars; tail ashy gray above, whitish ashy beneath, paler at tip, and crossed with three bars of slaty black; ear-coverts and sides of neck slaty gray, the latter washed with rufous; fore part of cheeks and throat buffy white, with a few indistinct blackish shaft-lines here and there; rest of under surface bright vinous-chestnut, much paler on the thighs; abdomen and under tail-coverts white; under wing-coverts rich ocherous, the lower ones and the axillars irregularly barred with brownish. Cere yellow; bill black, lead-color at base; feet pale orange-yellow; iris yellow. Length, 279; culmen, 19; wing, 168; tail, 129; tarsus, 48.

"Adult female.--A little larger than the male. Length, 330; wing, 188; tarsus, 56." (Sharpe.)

181. ACCIPITER MANILLENSIS (Meyen).

PHILIPPINE SPARROW HAWK.

Nisus manillensis Meyen, Beitr. (1834), 694, pl. 9. Accipiter virgatus Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1874), 1, 150 (part). Accipiter manillensis Grant, Ibis (1897), 212; Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 254; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 41. Accipiter stevensoni Tweeddale, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1878), 938, pl. 57.

Cebu (McGregor); Guimaras (Bourns & Worcester); Leyte (Whitehead); Luzon (Heriot, Whitehead, McGregor); Mindanao (Everett, Bourns & Worcester, Celestino, Goodfellow); Mindoro (Everett, Porter); Negros (Steere).

Adult.--Above brown; head, neck, and mantle with an ashy blue wash, basal portion of feathers white or with one or two large white spots; back, rump, and tail-coverts brown without hidden white spots; sides of head brown; chin and throat white with a narrow median brown line; remainder of under parts rich reddish brown or rusty chestnut, most intense and uniform on breast and sides, each feather barred with dark brown and white, the barred portion hidden, more or less, by the wide reddish brown tips; crissum white; wings brown, primaries barred with gray on distal part of inner webs and with ochraceous on basal part; secondaries barred with ochraceous on inner webs; scapulars with two or more large white spots, all concealed; axillars and wing-lining faint ochraceous, barred with brown; tail brown, crossed by five darker brown bars.

Male from Benguet, Luzon.--Length, 254; wing, 156; tail, 114; culmen from base, 18; tarsus, 48; middle toe with claw, 35.

Female from Benguet, Luzon.--Bill black, bluish at base, cere pea-green; iris and eyelids bright yellow; skin about eye and base of bill dull green; nails very dark brown; legs and feet light yellow. Length, 310; wing, 185; tail, 140; culmen from base, 20; tarsus, 53; middle toe with claw, 45.