THE AMERICAN GOSHAWK. 199 



measurement of seventeen specimens in the U. S. National Museum collec- 

 tion is 59 by 45.5 millimetres, the largest egg measuring 61 by 47.5, the 

 smallest 54 by 45 millimetres. 



The type specimen (No. 20684, PI. 6, Fig. 1), selected from a set of five, 

 was taken by Mr. L. M. Turner. U. S. Signal Service, May 1, 1876, in the 

 Yukon River Delta, Alaska, 



68. Accipiter atricapillus striatulus RIDGWAY. 



WESTERN GOSHAWK. 



Astur atricapillus var. striatulus RIDGWAY, in History of North American Birds, in, 



1874, 240. 

 Accipiter atricapillus striatulus RIDGWAY, Proceedings U. S. National Museum, vm, 



1885, 355. 



(B , C , R 433o, C 407, U 334a.) 



GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE : Western North America ; north to Sitka, Alaska ; south 

 to California ; east to Idaho. 



The breeding range of the Western Goshawk extends from Sitka, Alaska, 

 south through the mountains of the coast region in British Columbia and the 

 States of Washington and Oregon, to about latitude 38 in California. Mr. 

 Ridgway's statement, in his Manual of North American Birds, "breeding at 

 least south to latitude 30, " is evidently a typographical error, and should 

 n-ad "39." 



According to my 'observations, the general habits of the Western Gos- 

 hawk are very similar to those of its eastern relative; it is equally destructive 

 to small game of all kinds, particularly the Sooty, Ruffed, and Sharp-tailed 

 Grouse, as well as to the fowls of the poultry yard. While nowhere abun- 

 dant, it seems to be pretty generally distributed throughout the Blue Moun- 

 tain region of Oregon and Washington, and breeds in suitable localities where 

 food is plenty. During spring and summer it is seldom seen in the more 

 open districts, though it is abundant enough later on, when the heavy snows 

 drive the game into the foothills and lower valleys. I have shot quite a 

 number of these birds at various times, and all, as far as I am aware, are 

 referable to this subspecies, with one exception, which is intermediate between 

 it and the preceding. 



My first acquaintance with the Goshawk dares back to 1870, and on 

 April 21, 1871, while hunting in Lawyer's Canon, 30 miles south of Fort 

 Lapwai, Idaho, I found a nest of this subspecies containing a single egg. 

 It was placed in the forks of a large cottonwood tree about 50 feet 

 from the ground, and was a bulky affair, fully 2 feet in diameter and quite 

 as deep. The nest was composed of sticks, some of them quite large and 

 loosely put together. It was rather shallow on top and lined with weed 

 stalks, a species of wild nettle, and a few pine needles. The parent on the 



