588 



ON SOME SPECIES OF THE 



In the earlier works of Latham, it is described 

 as distinct. In the Second Supplement, however, 

 to the General Synopsis of that author^ we find 

 the following observation : The young of the 

 Goshawk is very different from the adult, and it 

 is not at all clear, that the Falcon Gentil of the 

 British Zoology, No. 50., is not the Goshawk in 

 its first feathers." The truth of this remark, is 

 confirmed by a comparison of the specimen of the 

 Goshawk now before you, with the figure of the 

 Gentle Falcon given by Pennant in his British 

 Zoology ^, 



Montagu, in his last work, entirely coincides 

 in-the above opinion ; and, on this subject, I may 

 add that Colonel Thornton, of sporting celebri- 

 ty, applies the term Gentil to the Peregrine Fal- 

 con f . 



The difliculty of identifying the Falcon Gentle, 

 results from the desire of tracing it to one species, 

 when it is clear, upon examination, that the young 

 males and females in a particular state of plu- 

 mage, both of the Common Falcon, as it is called, 

 and of the Goshawk, have been described under 

 that appellation. 



* The figure referred to, is the 21st plate of the last edition. 



t Bechstein says, the Falco gentilis is the yearling bird of 

 the F, palumbarius. 



