GOSHAWK. 343 



true Goshawk has been obtained in any part of Scotland for se- 

 veral years, insomuch that we might very reasonably apprehend 

 the total failure of the native breed in that country. Mr Fen- 

 ton informs me that he saw one which was shot in Forfarshire 

 about fifteen years ago, and in the museum of the University 

 of Edinburgh is a young bird said by the late Mr Wilson to 

 have been shot in Scotland. I have nothing to add to its his- 

 tory since in 1836 I penned the following remarks in my de- 

 scriptions of the Rapacious Birds of Great Britain : — " In the 

 more inland parts of the middle division of Scotland, especially 

 among the Grampians of Aberdeenshire, it may now and then 

 be observed ; but the few opportunities of studying its manners 

 which have occurred to me were so fleeting, that I can add no- 

 thing to its history in this respect. When you are least ex- 

 pecting its appearance, it sweeps rapidly past you, or is seen 

 swiftly winging its way over the fields or woods with a bird in 

 its talons. In so far as I am acquainted with it, it resembles 

 the Sparrow Hawk in its manners." According to M. Tem- 

 minck, it is essentially a northern bird, which migrates south- 

 ward in winter, few remaining to breed in the central parts of 

 Europe. It was much esteemed when falconry was in vogue, 

 and w^as flown at Pheasants, Partridges, Grouse, Ducks and 

 Herons, as well as hares, which it pursued in direct flight, 

 without rising above them like the Peregrine Falcon, from 

 which it further differed in pursuing its quarry into woods and 

 thickets. Its flight, which is rapid and gliding, is performed 

 at a small height ; its activity almost equals that of the Sparrow 

 Hawk ; and its disposition is sanguinary, suspicious, and unso- 

 cial, insomuch that it has often been known to kill its com- 

 panions in captivity. Authors differ respecting the nest and 

 eggs, and a good history of this bird is a desideratum, which 

 cannot be accomplished by British observers, at least in their 

 own country. Were it not doubtful whether the Goshawk of 

 North America be really of the same species, I might refer to 

 Mr Audubon's account of its habits. A specimen of that bird 

 in my collection, and three others which I have seen, differ in 

 some respects from ours, more especially in having the trans- 

 verse markings on the lower parts more numerous and more 



