690 



ON SOME SPECIES OF THE! 



4 gentiiis. The bird now described, I have no doubt is the 

 young of the Goshawk. It is at once distinguish- 

 ed by the shortness of its wings ; and an exami- 

 nation of the specimen of the immature Goshawk 

 now exhibited, will shew the agreement of the 



I other characters. 



On this subject, I have to correct a slight mis- 

 take committed by Montagu. Having describ- 

 ed the Gentle Falcon, he adds, " A variety sup- 

 posed to be young birds, are described to have 

 transverse bars on the breast." Now, the revierse 



) of this is really the case. I have examined many 

 specimens both of the Goshawk and Peregrine 

 Falcon, and have always found that the young 

 birds are marked with longitudinal spots, and do 

 not acquire the barred plumage of the breast till 

 they are nearly mature. The error seems to have 

 originated with Pennant, who not being ac- 

 quainted with the nature of the changes in the 

 plumage of hawks, has described the young birds 



\ as distinguished by transverse bars, instead of 



! cordated spots, which he supposes to characterise 

 such as are mature. 



j 



The observation, however, affords a further 

 proof of the Gentle Falcon being^ merely the 

 young of another species, as the varieties alluded 

 to by Montagu, are the individuals about to as- 

 sume the plumage of the adult Goshawk. 



We may fairly conclude, that such authors as 

 1 have described the Gentle Falcon with the wings 



