157 



THE GOSHAWK. 



Astur palumbarius. BECHSTEIN. 

 PLATE X. 



Falco palumbarius of authors. Astur JBriss L'Autour of 



the Frznch. Goshawk of British ornithologists. 



A detailed account of the habits of the Gos- 

 hawk, written from observation, is yet a deside- 

 ratum in the history of British birds. None of 

 our modern writers have seen the bird in its 

 native haunts, and there is little more detail in 

 the works of the more ancient naturalists, when 

 it was supposed to be more abundant. The 

 districts of the Dee and of the Spey are always 

 mentioned as the parts where this bird is most 

 abundantly found, but it is undoubtedly rare 

 even in these wild wooded regions. Lowe again 

 mentions it as occurring in the Orkneys. In 

 England it is still more uncommon, and it seems 

 curious, that When not unfrequently met with in 

 France, it should pass over, as it were, the south 

 of Britain, and appear again at the extreme north. 



