GOSHAWK. 



RAPTORES. FALCONIDjE. 



PLATE V. 

 GOSHAWK. 



ASTUR PALUMBARIUS, (Bechst.) 



The Goshawk is common in all the northern and tem- 

 perate regions of Europe and Asia, in North America, and 

 the northern parts of Africa. In central Europe there are 

 few places where it may not be numbered among the common 

 birds of the country. In Britain the Goshawk is not very 

 numerous ; it is of rare occurrence in the southern parts, but 

 more frequently found in Scotland, where it is known to 

 breed. It inhabits, indifferently, mountainous or flat coun- 

 tries, provided the district is well wooded and interspersed 

 with fields and occasional tracts of open land. Extensive 

 forests and unsheltered plains are less frequented by the Gos- 

 hawk than districts of a more varied aspect. The number 

 of this species that breed in the central parts of Europe, is 

 not very considerable ; in those parts it is a bird of passage, 

 which arrives from the north, and passes the winter in the 

 South of Europe. 



The flight of this bird is quicker than the shortness of its 

 wings would lead us to expect. He generally flies low, with 

 his tail closed ; but in fine and warm weather he may be seen 

 in the higher regions of the air with tail expanded, wheeling 

 round from time to time as if for the purpose of cooling him- 

 self. The Goshawk is generally shy, and upon his guard, 

 nevertheless, when in pursuit of his prey, his voracious ap- 



