﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  57 
  

  

  Astur 
  palumbarius 
  (L.). 
  Goshawk. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  not 
  necessary, 
  nor 
  is 
  it 
  perhaps 
  desirable, 
  to 
  go 
  any 
  further 
  back 
  

   for 
  positive 
  records, 
  except 
  incidentally 
  to 
  mention 
  Hector 
  Boece, 
  

   who 
  several 
  times 
  speaks 
  of 
  'Goishalkis, 
  Sparhalkis, 
  Marlyonis, 
  

   and 
  sik 
  lik 
  foulis' 
  (vide 
  Scotland 
  before 
  1700, 
  from 
  Contemporary 
  

   Docwnejits, 
  edited 
  by 
  P. 
  Hume 
  Brown, 
  p. 
  84 
  ; 
  Edinburgh, 
  David 
  

   Douglas, 
  1893). 
  

  

  We 
  have 
  no 
  better 
  authority 
  for 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  the 
  true 
  

   Goshawk 
  in 
  Scotland 
  in 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  this 
  century 
  than 
  Colonel 
  

   Thornton, 
  whose 
  Sporting 
  Tour 
  dates 
  1805. 
  His 
  description 
  at 
  

   p. 
  107 
  in 
  itself 
  seems 
  ample 
  to 
  satisfy 
  the 
  keenest 
  scrutiny. 
  He 
  

   says 
  : 
  — 
  ' 
  This 
  Hawk 
  is 
  very 
  rare 
  ; 
  I 
  never 
  met 
  with 
  it 
  in 
  England 
  

   that 
  were 
  wild. 
  They 
  are 
  a 
  short-winged 
  Hawk, 
  being 
  in 
  the 
  

   same 
  proportion 
  to 
  a 
  Sparrow-Hawk 
  (of 
  which 
  kind 
  they 
  are) 
  as 
  a 
  

   Falcon 
  to 
  a 
  Merlin. 
  They 
  fly 
  at 
  the 
  bolt, 
  and 
  the 
  Falcon 
  is 
  

   excellent 
  for 
  hares, 
  rabbits, 
  herns, 
  and 
  wild 
  ducks; 
  the 
  Tercel 
  

   for 
  game.' 
  In 
  a 
  foot-note 
  he 
  adds 
  that 
  1 
  when 
  he 
  managed 
  the 
  

   confederate 
  Hawks 
  ' 
  he 
  always 
  procured 
  his 
  Goshawks 
  from 
  

   Germany. 
  

  

  At 
  the 
  same 
  page 
  (107) 
  Colonel 
  Thornton 
  further 
  remarks 
  : 
  — 
  

   ' 
  The 
  forest 
  formed 
  by 
  Glenmore 
  and 
  Rothiemurcos, 
  I 
  have 
  before 
  

   observed, 
  produces 
  some 
  noble 
  fir-trees, 
  and 
  is 
  an 
  asylum 
  for 
  stags 
  

   and 
  roebucks; 
  in 
  it 
  are 
  also 
  some 
  eyries 
  of 
  Goss-hawks, 
  some 
  of 
  

   which 
  we 
  saw.' 
  

  

  Later 
  on 
  (p. 
  137) 
  Colonel 
  Thornton 
  regrets 
  the 
  loss 
  of 
  a 
  

   falcon 
  of 
  the 
  Goshawk, 
  which 
  was 
  taken 
  in 
  the 
  forest 
  of 
  Rothie- 
  

   murchus, 
  and 
  speaks 
  of 
  it 
  thus 
  : 
  — 
  ' 
  Our 
  distress 
  was 
  mutual, 
  

   as 
  we 
  were 
  both 
  desirous 
  of 
  trying 
  this 
  Falcon 
  — 
  the 
  very 
  first 
  

   specimen 
  bred 
  and 
  tried 
  in 
  Britain, 
  there 
  being 
  no 
  account 
  of 
  

   either 
  taken 
  notice 
  of 
  in 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  falconry' 
  (op. 
  cit. 
  p. 
  

   137). 
  1 
  

  

  Since 
  Colonel 
  Thornton's 
  day 
  much 
  confusion 
  has 
  arisen 
  about 
  

   this 
  bird 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  Peregrine 
  so 
  often 
  being 
  misnamed 
  Gos- 
  

   hawk, 
  and 
  this, 
  too, 
  even 
  by 
  experienced 
  and 
  otherwise 
  accurate 
  

   ornithologists, 
  such 
  as 
  Pennant. 
  This 
  confusion 
  exists 
  even 
  down 
  

   to 
  the 
  present 
  day, 
  having 
  been 
  perpetuated 
  by 
  such 
  paragraphs 
  

  

  1 
  See 
  also 
  Harting'a 
  Bibliotheca 
  Accipitraria, 
  p. 
  253. 
  

  

  