_Dissodectes ardesiacus_, of Arabia, North-East and West Africa, is slate-coloured with dark shaft-stripes, the wing-quills being brown and the tail interruptedly barred with whitish. _D. dickinsoni_ of Benguela, the Shiré and Rovuma valleys, is brown with pale head and white rump; _D. zoniventris_ of Madagascar has dark bands on the mantle and on the white under parts. _Hieracidea_ (_Harpa_) _novae zealandiae_, the Quail Hawk of New Zealand and the Chatham Islands, is dark brown with rufous and grey barring above; the crown and nape being blacker, the tail shewing eight whitish bands, and the creamy-white lower surface and fulvous thigh-region exhibiting streaks of brown. It may be seen soaring over the plains and lower hills, hovering with expanded tail, or pouncing like an arrow on the rodents, birds, and lizards which form its food. Insects too are captured on the wing, and poultry fiercely attacked. The cry is screaming; the eggs resemble those of the Peregrine Falcon, and are deposited in hollows scraped on rocky ledges, or occasionally in rough nests among thick creepers. A smaller and bolder race has been termed _H. ferox_ or _brunnea_, the Bush-Hawk. _H. berigora_ of Australia and New Guinea has brown upper parts, with rufous markings that become bands on the white-tipped tail, creamy under parts streaked with {175}brown, and chestnut thighs. _H. orientalis_ of the same countries lacks the red tints, _H. novae guineae_ of New Guinea is less spotted. These three Kestrel-like birds love swampy districts, and devour small mammals, birds, frogs, lizards, newts, insects, and even carrion; being valuable allies in caterpillar-plagues, but farmyard pests at ordinary times. The nest of sticks, lined with bark or leaves, is placed in trees, the three or four whitish eggs are blotched with reddish-brown.