HAWK. 231 



ed ; primary quills ten, fourth and fifth longest, first 

 very short, the first five cut out on the inner edge ; se- 

 condary thirteen, truncato-rotundate, nearly even when 

 the wing is closed. Tail long, straight, even or slight- 

 ly rounded, of twelve rather broad rounded feathers. 



The species of which this genus is composed are 

 very numerous, and some of them are found in all parts 

 of the globe. The larger, which are also proportional- 

 ly more robust, with thicker tarsi and shorter wings, 

 have by many ornithologists been considered as consti- 

 tuting a separate genus or subgenus, to which the name 

 Astur has been applied ; while the smaller and more 

 slender species have been formed into a group desig- 

 nated variously by the names of Accipiter, Sparvius, or 

 Nisus. The transition from the one to the other is so 

 gradual, that it seems to me unwarrantable to separate 

 them ; and even tlie two British species, of which one, 

 the Goss Hawk, belongs to Astur, the other, the Spar- 

 row Hawk, to Accipiter, although commonly considered 

 as the types of these sections, do not diifer so much as 

 to render the propriety of separating them very appa- 

 rent, even were there no other species known. 



The larger species are generally stout, although not 

 nearly so robust as the falcons or buzzards; and the 

 smaller are generally very slender, although still mus- 

 cular, especially on the anterior part of the body. 

 Their wings, although short in comparison with the 

 tail, are in reality long, being half as long again as the 

 body. The tail itself is generally of the length of the 

 body, neck and head ; and being unencumbered with 

 stiff or bulky feathers at the base, and with its basis 



