The Lincolnshire bird (which was sent to Mr. Leadbeater by Frank Sheffield, Esq., brother of Sir Robert
| Sheffield, Bart.) was the finest, largest, and heaviest example that ever came under my notice. It wasa fully
adult female, immensely fat, weighed over four pounds, and was so broad-shouldered and powerful-looking

that it reminded me of a Chilian Eagle (Geranoaetus melanoleucus) rather than a Goshawk.

The Goshawk does not appear to be common in any part of North Africa, from Morocco to the Nile;
and the Rev. H. B. Tristram says it cannot be regarded as a bird of Palestine southward of the wooded
districts of Lebanon; but Signor Fidas, a zealous Italian collector at Beyrout, showed him the skin of one
he had purchased in the flesh in the market of that city (Ibis, 1865, p. 259). Lord ar states that it
is not very common in the Jonian Islands ; he only met with two immature examples in Epirus, but saw at
Santa Metre a fine pair that had been killed on that island a few weeks previously $ he was told that the
species is common, and breeds in Albania proper, Montenegro, and Bosnia, in which last Prova it is
trained for taking Hares; his Lordship adds, ‘The Goshawk seems to be an object of special aversion
to Rooks, Magpies, Jays, &c., who will allow a Buzzard, Harrier, or Falcon to remain unmolested in
their haunts, but immediately pursue this species with loud cries and every appearance of excessive hatred
and defiance.” —* Ibis,’ 1860, p. 9. Lord Lilford has “ once or twice seen the Goshawk in Andalusia, and
also in Catalonia. The Spaniards call the bird 4zor.” In Portugal, where it is said to be tolerably common,
it is known as the 4cor.

The veteran Temminck informs us that it is very common in France, Germany, and Switzerland, but is
very rare in Holland; while every traveller who has visited Sweden, Lapland, Bothnia, and Finmark speaks
of it as a summer visitant, and as breeding in those countries as far north as the Scoteh fir extends.

We have yet to speak of its occurrence in a more easterly direction; India, China, and Amoorland claim
for it a place in their avifaunas. “The Goshawk,” says Mr. Jerdon, ‘is found in the Himalayas, and, I
think, also on the Neilgherries, though more rarely.” There, as in Europe and elsewhere, it ever affects the

‘ mountainous districts ; and, continues Mr. Jerdon, “if it ever occurs in the plains it is only a straggler or
bird of passage. The female is the most highly esteemed bird of prey in India, and a trained bird used to
be sold for a large sum in former days. They are caught when young, and sold on the skirts of the
N. W. Himalayas to falconers from different parts of India, for prices varying from 20 to 50 rupees for
the female, and from 10 to 20 or 30 for the male. The female is trained to strike the Houbara Bustard,
Kites, and Neophrons, Ducks, and many other large water-birds, such as Cormorants, Herons, Ibises, &c.
It is, however, chiefly trained to catch Hares. For this purpose she is booted, or furnished with leather
leggings, to prevent her legs being injured by thorns, as the Hare generally drags the Hawk some yards
after being struck. She strikes with one leg only, and stretches the other out behind to clutch grass, twigs
or anything on the ground, to put the drag, as it were, on the Hare. The male is trained to strike Par-
tridges, Rock-pigeons, Crows, Teal, &c. The Goshawk flies direct at its prey, and gets its speed at once ;
if it does not reach the quarry within a reasonable distance (say, from 100 to 200 yards) it generally gives up
the chase, and either returns to the falconer’s fist or perches on some neighbouring tree or the ground.”

The disposition, actions, and mode of flight, and the manner in which the Goshawk steals upon its prey,
are both singular and interesting. It is never seen hovering, like the Kestril, and but seldom high
in the air, like the Falcons ; on the contrary, it sits motionless, for hours together, under the shadowy canopy
of a leafy tree, mostly close to the bole, and not on the exposed branches—whence it scans the surrounding
space, and, upon the appearance of a Hare, Partridge, or any quadruped or bird upon which it feeds, sneaks
upon its prey in the most artful manner. Mr. Wolf tells me that he has known it, when pressed by hunger,
dash out of its retreat and give chase to a Short-eared Owl.

Mr. Hewitson states, on the authority of Mr. Hoy, that “ the Goshawk builds its own nest ; and, if undis-
turbed in its possession, will frequently occupy it for several years, making the necessary repairs. It is
placed on some high tree, on the outskirts of the forest, and is rarely found in the interior of the woodland,
except in those parts which are cleared and free from timber. The eggs are three or four in number, and
are frequently hatched by the middle of May ; they are, I believe, for the most part, of a spotless bluish
white, but are sometimes indistinctly marked with brown.”

In no one member of the great family of Falcons does there occ

ur a greater dissimilarity between the
young bird of the year, with the lanceolate markings of its

breast, and the fully adult, in which the same part
is crossed by numerous fine bars. There is also as great a difference in the size of the sexes ; but this character
is less marked than in the members of the genus Accipiter, from which that of Astur must be regarded as
merely an offshoot.

The Plate represents an adult female, about two-thirds of the natural

cae size, with a reduced figure of a young
bird in the distance.