ACCIPITKIN^. 45 



to the middle one ; middle toe moderately long ; claws well-curved, 

 unequal; inner claw very lai'ge, about equal to that of the hind toe. 

 The Goshawks are typically birds of large size and very robust 

 make. They are very powerful and speedy for a short time, and 

 are remarkably bold. They live chiefly in wooded districts, and 

 are found over all the world. They nestle on trees, laying three 

 or four e^'O's. 



21. Astur Palumbarius, Lix. 



Falco, apud Linn.eus — PI. enl., 418, 423, 461 — Gould, Birds 

 of Europe, pi. 17 — Blyth, Cat. 101 — Horsf., Cat. 51 — Jerdon. 

 2nd Suppl. Cat., 36, bis — F. Gallinarius, Gmel. — Baz, H. (the 

 female) ; Jurra (the male) — Shahbaz, in Sindh — '(The word Baz 

 appears to be the same as the Bucharian or Persian Baz and Basi, 

 being respectively the names given to the Peregrine Falcon by 

 those people, according to Pallas. 



The Goshawk. 



Desci\ — The young bird is brown above, the feathers edged with 

 a paler hue on the head, indeed often rusty, with a dark central 

 spot; nape whitish ; wings and tail light brown, the latter with an 

 ashy tinge, banded with darker brown : beneath rusty white, with 

 lonor dark-brown streaks throuajhout ; under tail coverts white, with 

 narrow stripes ; streak over the eye, and cheeks, also white with 

 brown streaks. 



The adult is uniform light brown above, with a greyish tinge ; 

 beneath white, with cross bands of rich hair or yellowish brown, 

 and the shafts dark ; the tliigh coverts are also narrowly banded; the 

 under tail coverts unspotted, white : the tail has three conspicuous 

 broad brown bands, and a fourth indistinct one near the base. 



Length of a female 24 inches ; wing 14 ; tail nearly 10. — Weight 

 2tt)s. 14oz. The male is 20 inches long; wing 13 ; tall 9. 



The Goshaiok is found in the Himalayas, and I think also on the 

 Neilgherries, though rare there. If it ever occurs in the plains, it is 

 only a straggler, or a bird of passage. I saw, on more than one 

 occasion on the Neilgherries, near the top of Dodabct, the highest 

 hill of the group, a large biid of prey, dashing impetuously into a 



