The Birds of Australia, Vol. 1 of 7

Astur cruentus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1842.

K̏il-lin-g̏il-lee and Mat-wȅl-itch, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western Australia.

Goȍd-jee-lum, Aborigines around Perth, Western Australia.

This Hawk is intermediate in size between the Astur approximans and Accipiter torquatus; it is of a more grey or blue colour on the back, and has the transverse lines on the breast narrower and of a more rufous tint. It precisely resembles the first-mentioned bird in the rounded form of the tail, in the short powerful tarsus, and in the more abbreviated middle toe, which is much longer in the Accipiter torquatus.

The Astur cruentus is a very common species in Western Australia, particularly in the York district and at the Murray. Like its congener, it is a remarkably bold and sanguinary species, often visiting the farm-yard and carrying off fowls and pigeons with much apparent ease.

It breeds in October and the two following months, making a nest of dried sticks on the horizontal fork of a gum or mahogany tree.

The sexes and young present precisely the same differences, both in size and plumage, that are observable in their near ally.

The male has the crown of the head and occiput dark slate-colour; sides of the face grey; at the back of the neck a collar of chestnut-red; back, wings and tail slaty brown, the brown hue predominating on the back, and the slate-colour upon the other parts; inner webs of the primaries fading into white at the base, and crossed by bars of slate-colour, the interspaces freckled with buff; the inner webs of the tail-feathers are marked in a precisely similar manner; chin buffy white; the whole of the under surface rust-red, crossed by numerous narrow semicircular bands of white; irides bright yellow; cere dull yellow; bill black at the tip, blue at the base; legs and feet pale yellow; claws black.

The female differs in having all the upper surface brown; the chestnut band at the back of the neck wider, but not so rich in colour; in all other respects she resembles her mate.

The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.