The Goshawk.- 



-BIRDS- 



-The Secretaky Bird. 



2fil 



THE GOSHAWK {Asttir palumbarius). — The Gos- 

 hawk is the only species of tliis group, besides the 

 spaiTOw-hawli, found ua Britain, where, however, it is 

 very rare. On the continent of Ewope it is in many 

 districts not uncommon. It occurs in many parts of 

 Asia ; and in India, where it is called the Bhause, is 

 employed in falconry. It also inhabits the north of 

 Africa, and the United States of America. It is rather 

 a large hawk, the full grown female measuring about 

 two feet in length, whilst the males are often one-third 

 less ; the plumage of the upper parts is brown and that 

 of the lower surface nearly white — spotted, barred, 

 and lined with black; the tail feathers are barred 

 transversely with light and dark brown ; the beak is 

 horn-colour or bluish-black, the cere and feet yellow, 

 and the claws black. 



In its general habits the Goshawk resembles the 

 sparrow-hawk; but its greater size and strength ren- 

 der it formidable to game of larger size than can be 

 attacked by that bird. Its flight is low, but rapid and 

 gliding, and it pm'sues its quarry with great pertinacity, 

 even through woods and thickets — a quality which for- 

 merly rendered it a great iavom'ite with falconers. The 

 game at which it was flown consisted of pheasants, 

 partridges, grouse, ducks, and even herons, amongst 

 birds ; and hares and rabbits, amongst quadrupeds : it 

 pursues these iu direct flight, not attempting to rise 

 above them in order to pomice down like the peregrine 

 and other falcons. When batBod by its quarry taking 

 refuge in a thicket through which it camiot penetrate, 

 it wiU perch upon the branch of a tree, and wait 

 patiently until the game begins to move, when it 

 immediately starts in pursuit. The nest of this bird is 

 usually built in a high tree near the borders of a forest, 

 and the same nest frequently serves for several years 

 in succession. The eggs are three or four in number, 

 and of a pale bluish-white colour. 



THE NEW-HOLLAND GOSHAWK {Aslur Nova Hol- 

 landke), a fine species, rather smaller tlian the pre- 

 ceding, found principally in the colony of New South 

 Wales, is remarkable for the pure white colom' of most 

 of the specimens, only a few being occasionally met 

 witli in which the back is grey, and the feathers of the 

 chest marked with brownish transverse Imes. The 

 gi-ey birds are pecidiar to New South Wales, but the 

 white specimens not only occur in that colony, but also 

 in Van Diemen's Laud. 



THE AUSTRALL4N GOSHAWK [Astur approximans) 

 is a far more abundant species than the preceding, 

 although occurring principally in the same range of 

 country. The general colour of its plumage is brown, 

 with numerous narrow transverse greyish bands on the 

 lower surface. It is an active, bold, powerful, and san- 

 guinary species, destrojdng great quantities of small 

 btds, quadrupeds, and reptiles. Its nest — which is of 

 large size, built with sticks, and lined with leaves of the 

 gum-tree — is usually placed amongst the boughs of a 

 large swamp oak {Casimrina), and commonly contains 

 three eggs of a bluish-white colour, covered with 

 patches of brownish bufl". 



THE CHANTING FALCON {McUirax miisicus), an 

 inhabitant of the southern parts of Africa, is remarkable 

 in the whole series of birds of prey for the possession 

 of a musical voice. It is a bold, active, and sanguinary 

 bhd, waging an incessant war of destruction with all 

 the smaller inhabitants of the forest, in which it takes 

 up its abode, usually near the course of a river. Its 

 song, according to Le Vaillant, is heard principally 

 during the breeding season, when the male porches 

 by the side of his mate up on the summit of a high 

 tree, or in the vicinity of the nest where she is 

 engaged in incubation, and pours out his feelings in 

 melody for hours together, particularly about sunset 

 and sum'ise. 



SEEPENT-EATERS. 



THE SECRETAEY-BIED {Serpcntarms reptilii-onis), 

 — Plate 3, tig. 8 — the only known species of this group, 

 has been placed by different writers in the most various 

 positions in the classification, for which, indeed, its 

 remarkable structure may furnish some little excuse, 

 although it can hardly justify those who have made the 

 gi'eatest blunders. The Secretary-bird or Serpent- 

 eater is distinguished fi-om all other predaceous birds 

 by the extraordinary length of its legs, which give it an 

 aspect somewhat simUar to that of a wading bird of 

 the order Grallce, amongst which some authors have 

 not hesitated to arrange it ; although one would think 

 that a glance at the feet and bill would have sufficed 

 to convince an}' ornithologist that this coifld not be 

 its proper place. Others have assigned it a posi- 

 tion amongst the gallinaceous birds, a view which is 

 equally untenable. In fact we have only to examine 

 the general character of the bird to become convinced 

 that it is simply a long-legged species of the predaceous 

 order; and when we come to inquire mto its habits and 

 mode of life, we shall soon see that this peculiarity of 



its conformation is strikingly in accordance with its 

 duties in nature. It has sometimes been called the 

 Secretary Vidture, and placed in the family VulturidEe, 

 for what reason it is hard to say; and the majority of 

 modem naturalists are agreed in arranging it in the 

 present family, of which it forms a subordinate group, 

 most nearly aUied to the Hawks and Harriers, and in 

 some respects intermediate between those two gi-oups. 

 The Serpent-eater is a large bird, attaining a height 

 of more than three feet when standing with its head 

 raised. Its plumage is of a bluish ash colour above, and 

 of a greyish white beneath; at the back of the head is an 

 elegant tuft of long black feathers, which the bird pos- 

 sesses the power of elevating or depressing at pleasure ; 

 and it was from a fancied resemblance of this tuft to the 

 pen of a clerk, stuck in a business-like fashion behind 

 his ear, that the old Dutchmen who first saw this curi- 

 ous bird gave hun the name of the Secretary. The 

 tail is composed of long flexible feathers, of which the 

 two middle ones are much longer than the rest, and 

 nearly reach the ground; and the whole of these 



