164 A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



(sometimes not noticeable on mantle especially) ; under -parts 

 seldom buff or rufous-buff, usually white and bars usually broader 

 and darker than in male. 



First winter. — Like juvenile. Edgings to feathers on mantle 

 sometimes get worn off, especially in females by early spring. 



First summer. — Juvenile body-feathers sometimes start to 

 moult Mar. and April but usually not before May, when primaries 

 also start and moult is rather prolonged as in adult but is usually 

 complete by July-Aug. After this moult birds become usually 

 indistinguishable from adults but occasionally there are a few 

 brown rufous-edged feathers on rump. N.B. — Both sexes breed in 

 first summer. 



Measurements and structure. — (J wing 190-210 mm., tail 135-150, 

 tarsus 50-56, bill from cere 11.5-12.5 (30 measured). $ wing 225- 

 243. Primaries : 1st equal to or shorter than 10th, 4th longest, 

 5th as long or 2-3 mm. shorter, 3rd 5-15 shorter, 6th 10-18 shorter, 

 2nd 30-40 shorter, 7th 40-45 shorter ; 3rd to 6th emarginated on 

 outer and 2nd to 5th on inner webs. Tail square, 12 feathers, tips 

 slightly rounded. Tarsus very slender and long and about one- 

 fourth feathered in front. Other structure as Goshawk but nostrils 

 more thickly covered with bristle-like loral feathers. 



Soft parts. — Bill slate, tip blackish-horn ; cere, legs and feet 

 greenish-chrome ; iris bright chrome-yellow ; skin round orbits pale 

 greenish. 



Characters and allied forms. — A. n. punicus (N.W. Africa), 

 is slightly larger and paler grey on upper-parts ; A. n. granti 

 (Madeira) is dark with very dark broad bars on under-parts ; A. n. 

 wolterstorffi (Sardinia) is similar but smaller ; A. n. nisosimilis 

 (north Asia) is large and pale ; A. n. melanoschistus (Himalaya) is 

 very dark on upper-parts and very rufous on under-parts. Dis- 

 tinguished from other British hawks by its much rounded wing 

 and much smaller size than Goshawk. 



Field-characters. — Prefers well-wooded districts, but often 

 nests in small plantations or isolated clumps of fir. Of more 

 slender build than any of our native falcons, has distinctly barred 

 — not streaked — under-parts, bars in male being less pronounced 

 owing to white ground-colour being suffused with rufous. Tail 

 looks very long in flight contrasted with short wings, which are 

 broad and rounded, not sharply pointed as in falcons. Hunts 

 by stealthy, albeit very rapid and gliding, flight just above ground 

 on outskirts of woods and along hedgerows, frequently topping 

 bushes to snatch an unsuspecting victim from its perch. At 

 times, however, chases its prey to a standstill, and, laying aside 

 its habitual caution, will even follow it into frequented thorough- 

 fares or interior of houses. Cry, a harsh sci earning " mew." 



Breeding-habits. — Widely distributed in all wooded districts. 

 N&st. — Often in conifers, but also frequently in deciduous trees,. 



