64 



THE GOSH A WK. 



The Notched Falcon is remarkable for the peculiar form of the beak, which exhibits a 

 double notch or Tooth on each side, and has therefore been distinguished by the specific title 

 of Mdentatus, or "two-toothed. 1 " 



This species is a native of southern America, being found most commonly in Brazil and 

 Guinea. In size it is about equal to the common kestrel, its length being thirteen or fourteen 

 inches. The general color of the Notched Falcon is a slaty-blue or blue-gray upon the upper 

 surface of the body, and the tail is dusky-brown, marked with several transverse bars of 

 grayish-white. The throat and under tail-coverts are white, and the breast and abdomen are 

 rusty-red, marked with undulating streaks of yellowish-white. Very little is known of the 

 habits of this species, but on account of the peculiar form of its beak, it cannot be passed over 

 without notice. 



The members of an allied genus, termed lerax, also possess a similarly formed beak, but 

 the structure of the wings and arrangement of the feathers are so different as to give reason 

 for placing the bird in a separate genus. One of the most beautiful examples of this genus is 

 the little Bengal Falcon (lerax ecerulescens), a native of .lava, Borneo, and many parts of 



! 



BENIiAL FALCON. —Falco mrulescens. 



India. This tiny Falcon is barely six inches in length, and is popularly known in India by 

 the name of " Mooty," a word which signifies "a handful," and is given to the bird because, 

 when it is flown at game, it is taken in the hand and flung at the quarry as if it were a stone 

 rather than a living missile. It is a most daring little bird, and has been known to strike in 

 succession ten or twelve quails before alighting. The general color of this species is bluish- 

 black above, and rusty-white below. The plumage of the thighs is long and silken, and the 

 wings are comparatively short. 



We now come to a large and important genus of hawks, which is represented in England 

 by the Goshawk. 



This handsome bird is even larger than the jerfalcon, the length of an adult male being 

 eighteen inches, and that of his mate rather more than two feet. It is not, however, so power- 

 fnl or so swift-winged a bird as the jerfalcon. and its mode of taking prey is entirely different, 



