532 RARE BRITISH BIRDS 



THE EAGLES 1 



[ORDER: Accipitres. SUBORDER: Falcones. FAMILY: Buteonidce. SUBFAMILY: Aquilince] 



GREATSPOTTED-EAGLE [Aquila maculdta (Ginelin). French, aigle tachete; German, 

 grosser Schreiadler ; Italian, aquila anatraia maggiore]. 



1. Description. Differs from the golden-eagle chiefly in its smaller size and in that the 

 feathering of the tarso-metatarsus does not extend to the base of the toes. The sexes are alike 

 in coloration, but the female is larger. Length 27 in. [686 mm.]. Whole of the plumage 

 blackish brown, the upper parts in freshly moulted specimens being glossed with purple ; 

 primary flight-feathers darker brown; tail uniform dark brown, the middle pairs being washed 

 with greyish towards the tip ; legs feathered to the base of the toes with short, dense feathers 

 of a blackish brown colour ; iris brown ; bill dark horn ; cere yellow ; feet yellow. The young 

 bird is densely marked with brownish buff spots, which are conspicuously large, and ovate in 

 shape, on the scapulars and wing-coverts ; under surface of body deep brownish black striped 

 with tawny brown, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 



2. Distribution. The breeding range of this species in Europe includes Eussia south of 

 about lat. 56 N., Livonia in the Baltic Provinces, and apparently Poland, locally in Hungary, 

 Transylvania, rarely in Croatia, commonly in the Balkan States, in Turkey, and perhaps also in 

 Greece. In Asia it also breeds in Asia Minor, Palestine, and from South-west Siberia and 

 Turkestan east to Central and North India and China. On migration it visits North-east Africa 

 and Southern Asia, south to Arabia, India, and Burma, while in Western Europe it is only a rare 

 casual. Either this or possibly the lesserspotted-eagle, Aquila pomarina (Brehm), has 

 occurred eight or nine times in England and twice in Ireland, but the specimens require critical 

 examination. [F. c. R. J.] 



\ 



THE GOSHAWKS 2 



[ORDER : Accipitres. SUBORDER : Falcones. FAMILY : Buteonidce. SUBFAMILY : Accipitrince] 



GOSHAWK [Accipiter gentilis gentilis (Linnseus); Astur palumbdrius (Linnreus). French, 

 autour ; German, Habicht ; Italian, astore]. 



1. Description. Resembles the sparrow-hawk, but may be recognised at a glance by its 

 greatly superior size, proportionately shorter, thicker legs, and the heavily barred under parts. The 

 sexes differ only in that the female is somewhat larger. Length 23 in. [583 mm.]. The general 

 colour of the upper parts is of an ash-grey, darker on the head, which displays an ill-defined 

 white superciliary stripe. The primaries, which are dark brown, are faintly barred with 

 blackish brown on their inner webs, while the tail feathers are crossed by three or four blackish 

 bands and a terminal white band. The under surface is white, heavily barred with black 

 save on the throat, where fine longitudinal streaks are more conspicuous than bars. The abdomen 

 and under tail-coverts are white. The immature plumage differs conspicuously from that of the 

 adult, many of the feathers of the upper parts having more or less well-marked fringes of 

 white, while the under parts are creamy white, relieved by very conspicuous, drop-shaped 

 streaks or longitudinal stripes of brown ; iris, cere, and legs yellow, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 



2. Distribution. Formerly the goshawk must have bred in small numbers in Great 

 Britain, and as late as 1893 a nest and eggs were found in Yorkshire, though there is no record 

 of breeding for about ninety years previously. On the Continent it has a wide distribution, 



1 VoL iv. p. 7a J Vol. iv. p. 105. 



