GOSHAWK 
149 
male of the Goshawk, so far as size is concerned ; 
but, even without dissection, they may readily be 
distinguished by the Sparrow-hawk's having a shorter 
tail, never exceeding inches, and a long slender 
middle toe. 
The Goshawk has a bad name as a poultry-thief, 
and is generally shot by bush-dwellers on that account. 
Nevertheless, it is by no means uncommon in all 
parts of this district where there is a moderate 
growth of timber. North of the Barrabool Hills I 
have not met with it, its place being taken on the 
plains by the Brown Hawk. It was formerly wide- 
spread through the bushlands between Drysdale, 
Swan Bay, and Ocean Grove, where I have found it 
nesting ; its chief stronghold now is the messmate 
country which lies south of a line drawn from Torquay 
to Paraparap, but it also occurs at Anglesea River, 
and thence until one reaches the moister blue-gum 
forests about Lorne. The Goshawk is exceptionally 
powerful and swift on the wing when in pursuit of 
the small birds which form its staple diet ; at other 
times its flight is high and soaring. 
Only once have I heard its cry : we were photo- 
graphing a nest and eggs near Jan Juc, and the old 
bird, fearing, quite needlessly, that she was to be 
robbed of her treasures, kept flying to and fro, utter- 
ing a loud twittering sound, just one note repeated 
time after time in rapid succession, rather like a 
Kestrel's. 
The nesting-season is, in my experience, confined 
