34 THE AMERICAN GOSHAWK. 



in breadth ; its ground color is soiled bluish-white, with numerous 

 but very faint markings. It much resembles the egg of Cooper's 

 Hawk, but is invariably larger. 



The sexes of this species are almost exactly alike in every 

 thing but in size, the colors of the female, however, being less 

 definite and paler. The young bird is not only very different in 

 coloring, but is likewise- considerably larger than either of the 

 parents. In a number of collections in Canada, I have seen 

 the young male labelled as the female, and it was only recently 

 that I removed from my own cabinet, an immature female 

 which had been for some years exhibited as an adult. On this 

 point Dr. Wood, of East Windsor Hill, Mass., remarks: "The 

 young are very unlike the adult both in size and markings ; the 

 young is the largest until after moulting, when the wing and tail 

 feathers never again acquire their former dimensions. The same 

 difference is observable in the Bald Eagle between the young and 

 adult." Allen likewise observes : " The young are more plainly 

 colored, and differ for several years so widely from their parents 

 as to be hardly recognizable as belonging to the same species." 

 The figure on Plate vii. is a life-like representation of a second- 

 year bird ; it certainly would hardly be recognized as the Goshawk. 



I think I am correct in stating that it is still an open question 

 whether our American Goshawk, and that of Europe are specifi- 

 cally distinct birds. Ornithologists of high standing appear on 

 both the affirmative and negative sides of this question. For my 

 own part, I must acknowledge that my opportunities of comparing 

 our own with European birds have not been extensive, but from 

 what few comparisons I have made, and from such conversations 

 as I have had with collectors from Britain, I cannot conclude 

 otherwise than -that the differences pointed out by many writers 

 between them are trivial, as compared with those known to exist 

 in individuals of some allied species. And further, among 

 specimens of the Goshawk obtained in North America, there 

 are some that differ more when compared with one another 

 than they do alongside a series of European birds. In support 

 of this statement I would draw attention to the following 



