﻿BIRDS OF PREY. GOSHAWKS. 



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already enumerated, little more requires to be stated : 

 it is clearly analogous to that of Falco, and the birds 

 belonging to it are as readily distinguished from the 

 subgenus Aster by their long, smooth, and very slender 



legs. This latter is composed of the goshawks, of which 

 only one species, the Falco palumbarius {fig* 98.), is a 

 native of Europe, although several others are found 

 both in the New and the Old World. The European 

 goshawk, from its size and strength, might be very 

 easily mistaken, by an ordinary observer, for an eagle ; 

 and the same may be said of the white goshawk of 

 Australia. The form of these birds, in comparison 

 with the sparrowhawks, is thick and somewhat heavy ; 

 and, although there is little or no difference between 

 their bills, except in size, the slender and delicate tarsi 

 of Accipiter offers a remarkable contrast to the thick, 

 powerful, and eagle-like structure which belongs to the 

 feet of the goshawks. The scales of the tarsi, in both, 

 are smooth ; but their divisions in Accipiter can scarcely 

 be perceived, while in Aster the front and back of the 

 leg are protected by many broad but short plates, dis- 

 posed transversely ; and in the two species above named 

 the greater part of the upper half of the tarsi is clothed 

 in front with feathers. Several modifications of this 

 form, like that of Aster rnonogrammicus* , &c, have come 

 before us ; but they do not appear sufficiently marked 

 to favour the idea of viewing them as distinct types. 



* Birds of Western Africa, plate 4. 

 X 



