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THE GOSHAWK. 
The Notched Falcon is remarkable for the peculiar form of the beak, which exhibits a 
double notch or tooth on each side, and has therefore been distinguished by the specific title 
of bidentatus , or “two-toothed.” 
This species is a native of southern America, being found most commonly in Brazil and 
Guinea. In size it is about equal to the common kestrel, its length being thirteen or fourteen 
inches. The general color of the Notched Falcon is a slaty-blue or blue-gray upon the upper 
surface of the body, and the tail is dusky -brown, marked with several transverse bars of 
grayish-white. The throat and under tail-coverts are white, and the breast and abdomen are 
rusty -red, marked with undulating streaks of yellowish-white. Very little is known of the 
habits of this species, but on account of the peculiar form of its beak, it cannot be passed over 
without notice. 
The members of an allied genus, termed Ierax, also possess a similarly formed beak, but 
the structure of the wings and arrangement of the feathers are so different as to give reason 
for placing the bird in a separate genus. One of the most beautiful examples of this genus is 
the little Bengal Falcon ( Ierax cosrulescens ), a native of Java, Borneo, and many parts of 
BENGAL FALCON .— Falco mrulescens. 
India. This tiny Falcon is barely six inches in length, and is popularly known in India by 
the name of “Mooty,” a word which signifies “a handful,” and is given to the bird because, 
when it is flown at game, it is taken in the hand and flung at the quarry as if it were a stone 
rather than a living missile. It is a most daring little bird, and has been known to strike in 
succession ten or twelve quails before alighting. The general color of this species is bluish- 
black above, and rusty- white below. The plumage of the thighs is long and silken, and the 
wings are comparatively short. 
We now come to a large and important genus of hawks, which is represented in England 
by the Goshawk. 
This handsome bird is even larger than the jerfalcon, the length of an adult male being 
eighteen inches, and that of his mate rather more than two feet. It is not, however, so power- 
ful or so swift- winged a bird as the jerfalcon, and its mode of taking prey is entirely different. 
