ASTUR PALUMBARITJS 115 



of March, and appears to extend throughout April and Maj' into 

 June. Both sexes take part in tlie incubation of the eggs. The 

 species nests, as a rule, in trees, often at a considerable height above 

 the ground, but in districts where trees are scarce it will resort to 

 cliffs for that purpose, selecting, when possible, as the actual site 

 for its nest a stunted tree or bush growing out of the rocks. Baron 

 V. Erlanger gives some interesting particulars regarding the nesting 

 of the Serpent-Eagle in Tunisia, from which it would appear that 

 the bird is somewhat indifferent as to the height of the tree or bush 

 it may select for its nest, and that the latter is rather small for the 

 size of the bird, being a flat structure composed externally of stout 

 sticks and internally of fresh twigs with a lining of Haifa-grass, 

 among which may often be found pieces of snakes' or lizards' skins. 

 Abundant remains of these reptiles are also to be found in the 

 immediate vicinity of the eyrie. Erlanger never found more than 

 one white, unspotted egg in a nest, the measurements varying from 

 72 to 62 mm. in length and from 59 to 55 mm. in breadth. Both 

 Loche and Salvin speak of clutches of this species being composed 

 of two eggs, and Canon Tristram also says that in Africa he had 

 found two eggs in a nest, although in Palestine never more than one. 



ASTUR PALUMBARIUS (LinnEeus). 

 GOSHAWK. 



Falco palumbarius, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 130 (1766). 



Astur palumbarius, Cnv. Eigne Anim. i. p. 320 (1817) ; Sharpe, Cat. 



Birds Brit. Mits. i, p. 95 ; Loche, Expl. Sci. Alg. Ois. i, p. 70 (1867). 

 Falco (Dsedalion) palumbarius, Malherbe, Cat. Bais. d'Ois. Alg. p. 6 



(1846). 



Description. — Adult female, spring, from Spain. 



Above dark earth-brown, with a slight white supercilium and a few white 

 feathers on the nape ; tail broadly barred with a darker brown, and slightly 

 tipped with white ; below whitish, closely barred all over with narrow brown 

 bars. 



Total length 24 inches, wing 14, culmen 1-40, tarsus 3. 



Adult male similar to the female, but smaller. 



The Goshawk appears to be rare in Tunisia, and Blanc informs 



me that he has obtained only two or three examples of it during the 



