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BLACK-CHINNED GOSHAWK. 
Aster monogrannnicus, Swains. 
PLATE IV. 
Cinereous ; cliin white, with a central black stripe ; body, 
beneath, marked with numerous transverse bands ; tail 
rounded, black, with the base and band before the tip 
white. 
Falco monogrammicus, Temm. PL Col. 314. 
We place this bird among the Goshawks as an 
aberrant species of the genus Aster, not wishing to 
multiply, without strong necessity, the already nu- 
merous genera which hare recently been proposed 
in this family, many of which seem to repose upon 
a very slender foundation. We shall first submit it 
to a rigorous comparison with the genuine sparrow- 
hawks, and then describe its plumage. 
This species, which appears by no means un- 
common in some parts of Western Africa, is nearly 
as large as a pigeon, and consequently much supe- 
rior to our European sparrow-hawk. Its form also 
is more heavy, — an appearance occasioned by its 
thicker body, stouter and shorter feet, and larger 
sized head. Its general aspect, however, no less 
than its short wings and similarly formed bill, gives 
