142 BRITISH BIRDS. 



ACCIPITER PALUMBARIUS. 

 GOSHAWK. 



(PLATE 5.) 



Accipiter astur, Briss. Orn. i. p. 317 (1760, adult). 



Accipiter circus major, Briss. Orn. i. p. 398 (1760, iram.j. 



Falco palumbarius, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 130 (1766) ; et auctorum plurimorum 



Temminck, Naumann, (Gould), (Newton), (Sliarpe), &c. 

 Falco albescens, Bodd. Tail. PL Enl. p. 25 (1783, ex D'Aubenton). 

 Falco gallinarius, Gmel. St/st. Nat. i. p. 266 (1788). 

 Falco marginatus, Lath. Ind. Orn. i. p. 26 (1790). 

 Falco tigrinus, Beseke, Vog. Kurl, p. 10 (1792). 



Astur palumbarius (Linn.), Lacep. Mem. de Tlnst. iii. p. 505 (1801). 

 Daedalion palumbarius (Linn.), Sav. Ois. de VEyypte, p. 33 (1810). 

 Sparvius palumbarius (Linn.), Vieill. N. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. x. p. 331 (1817). 

 Falco longipes, Nilss. Orn. Stiec. i. p. 18, pi. 1 (1817). 

 Accipiter astur, Pall. Zoogr. Rosso- As. i. p. 367 (1826). 

 Buteo palumbarius (Linn.), Flem. Brit. An. i. p. 54 (1828). 

 Astur gallinarum (Gmel.), Brehm, Vog. Deutschl. p. 83 (1831). 

 Accipiter palumbarius (Linn.), Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 85 (1835). 

 Astur indicus, Hodgs. in Gray's Zool. Misc. p. 81 (1844). 



The Goshawk probably was never a common bird in the British Islands ; 

 and of late years, since the forests have nearly all been cut down and 

 game-preserving has become so universal, this noble bird of prey has 

 become only an accidental visitor. It is only within the last half-century 

 that it has ceased to breed in Scotland. The Goshawk is not strictly a 

 migratory bird ; otherwise it would probably appear much more commonly 

 in this country. Many birds of prey zealously guard their hunting-grounds 

 from trespassers of their own species, and drive away their own young to 

 seek new breeding-grounds. The Goshawk is no exception ; and occasion- 

 ally one of the young birds, which may be looked upon as an emigrant 

 rather than a migrant, finds its way to our shores. They usually arrive 

 on the east coast, and soon fall a prey to the gamekeeper or the bird- 

 stuffer. Newton mentions the comparatively recent capture of seven ex- 

 amples in Northumberland, eleven in Norfolk, and five in Suffolk. 



The Goshawk is nowhere very common, but is generally though sparingly 

 distributed throughout the wooded districts of the whole of Europe, from 

 the Mediterranean up to the limit of forest-growth. It is partially migra- 

 tory in the extreme north, but has been obtained in winter at Tromso, on 

 the shores of the Varanger Fjord, and at Archangel. In Africa it is prin- 

 cipally known as a somewhat accidental winter visitant, though it has been 

 said to breed in Tangiers, and it certainly does so at Gibraltar. Eastwards 



