591 



it only occurs during passage and in winter, though Lindermayer states that it certainly breeds 

 in the northern provinces. Erhardt found it in the Cyclades in winter ; and Lord Lilford writes 

 (Ibis, 1860, p. 8) as follows : — " I observed it twice only in Epirus : — the first time near Kinouria, 

 where it stooped at a Woodcock which I had wounded ; this was on the 29th of December, 

 1857; and again at Butrinto, on the 2nd of January, 1858. Both these were immature speci- 

 mens. I saw a fine pair of Goshawks stuffed at Santa Maura in March 1857, which had been 

 killed in that island not many weeks before. I am told that this species is common, and breeds 

 in Albania proper, Montenegro, and Bosnia, in which last province it is trained for taking 

 Hares." In Bulgaria, Mr. Farman says, it is rare, and he seldom saw it ; but in Turkey it is 

 stated by Messrs. Elwes and Buckley not to be rare in any part of the country, and breeds in 

 the forest of Belgrade. In Southern Russia it is stated by Professor von Nordmann to be 

 generally distributed, especially along the partially timbered banks of the Dnieper, the Bug, 

 and the Dniester, whence it makes excursions to the steppes. According to the various Russian 

 authors a very pale variety exists in Southern and Eastern Russian, of which I have been unable 

 to obtain an example for comparison with the ordinary form. Dr. Kriiper met with it breeding 

 in Asia Minor, near Smyrna; but in Palestine, Canon Tristram writes (Ibis, 1865, p. 259), it 

 scarcely occurs south of the wooded district of Lebanon. He never met with it there, but was 

 shown a skin of one purchased in the flesh in the Beyrout market. It appears to be very rare 

 in Egypt, where none of the later collectors obtained it, excepting Captain Shelley, who shot a 

 female at Benisooef in March 1868. In North-west Africa it is also somewhat rare. Loche 

 states that it is of accidental occurrence in Algeria, always in immature plumage. Mr. C. F. 

 Tyrwhitt-Drake (Ibis, 1869, p. 153) saw a specimen shot in the mountains near Tetuan in 

 December, and in the month of May he saw a pair near Cape Spartel; and, according to 

 Colonel Irby, Favier states that it is resident near Tangier, and is frequently seen during 

 passage, but rarely met with in winter. 



To the eastward it is met with as far as China. Mr. Blanford states that he did not obtain 

 a specimen, but that it must be far from rare in parts of Persia ; and Major St. John writes, 

 " The Goshawk is more frequently kept for sporting-purposes in Persia than any of the true 

 Falcons, and fetches a higher price. Fifty tomans (201.) are occasionally given for a well- 

 trained female. Many birds are caught in the wooded hills of the south and west; but the 

 majority are brought from the forests of the Caspian. Specimens of the white variety, men- 

 tioned by Pallas as occurring in Siberia, occasionally find their way from Astrakhan to the 

 Shah's mews at Tehran. Persian falconers do not suppose this white bird to be any thing more 

 than an accidental variety. A man whom I met in a steamer on the Caspian in charge of some 

 Hawks assured me that he had seen a white bird taken out of the nest with two of the ordinary 

 colour. The Tarlan is generally flown at the common Red-legged Partridge (Gaccabis chukar), 

 and in the south at Francolin." 



In India, Dr. Jerdon states (B. of India, i. p. 45), it is found in the Himalayas, and probably 

 also in the Neilgherries. He further says (Ibis, 1871, p. 243) that a few visit the plains of the 

 Punjab during winter. He saw a pair, evidently breeding, in a wood in the Asrang valley, 

 beyond Chini, in the Sutlej, at an elevation of about 12,000 feet. Mr. Hume says that it breeds 

 in India, but, so far as he could ascertain, only in the higher regions of the Himalayas, in the 



