ASTUR APPROXIMANS , n s . andHorsf.
Australian Goshawk.
Falco radiatus, Temm. PI. Col. 123, young.
Astur radiatus, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 181, young male.
Astur fasciatus, lb., adult male and female.
Astur approximans, lb., young female.—Gould in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part III.
Bilbil, Aborigines of New South Wales.
Among the whole perhaps o f the Australian birds, certainly among the Australian Falconidas, we are presented
with no species the scientific appellation o f which is involved in so much confusion as is th at o f the
present bird. This confusion has arisen from two causes: first, authors have erroneously considered it to
be identical with the Falco radiatus .of Latham, from which it is entirely distinct; and secondly, the difference
which exists between the plumage o f the adult and young is so great as to have led to a false multiplication
o f species, and consequently o f specific names. Seven specimens of this Hawk form part o f the collection
of the Linnean Society, and are those from which Messrs. Vigors and Horsfield took their descriptions of
Astur radiatus, A . fasciatus and A . approximans: on a careful examination o f -these specimens, I am
satisfied that they are all referable to the present b i rd ; A . radiatus, o f which there are two specimens,
being the young male; A.fasciatus, of which there are three specimens, the a d u lt; one an adult male, the
other two adult females; and A . approximans, o f which there are two specimens, the young female. I have
retained the term approximans in preference to either o f the others, because radiatus actually belongs to
another species, and the employment o f fasciatus might hereafter lead to its being confounded with the
“ Fasciated Falcon,” an Indian species described under that name by Dr. Latham.
From the number of synonoms quoted above, it might readily be supposed that this bird is very common,
and such is in reality the case, for it is one o f the most abundant and generally dispersed o f the Hawks
inhabiting New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land. I t is a species which ranges pretty far north,
but on the western coast its place appears to be supplied by the Astur cruentus. The country between
South Australia and Moreton Bay may be considered its true h ab ita t; and there it is a stationary resident.
The Australian Goshawk is a bold, powerful, and most sanguinary species, feeding upon birds, reptiles,
and small quadrupeds. I t may often be seen lurking about the poultry-yard o f the settler, and dealing
destruction among the young stock of every k in d ; daring when a t large, and morose and sullen when
captured, it never becomes tame and familiar like the true Falcons, but retains its ferocity to the last.
Its nest is usually built on a large swamp-oak (Casuarina), growing on the side o f a brook, but I have
occasionally met with it on the gum-trees (Eucalypti) in the forest at a considerable distance from w a te r;
it is o f a large size, and is composed of sticks and lined with gum-leaves. The eggs are generally three in
number, o f a bluish white, smeared over with blotches o f brownish buff; they are one inch and ten lines long
by one inch and five lines broad.
The male, which is considerably less than the female in size, has the crown o f the head and nape o f the
neck leaden g rey ; on the back o f the neck an obscure collar o f rufous brown; the remainder o f the upper
surface, wings and tail deep greyish brown; the latter numerously barred with brown o f a deeper t in t; inner
webs of the primaries and secondaries greyish white, barred with dark brown; throat greyish brown;
breast and all the under surface rufous brown, crossed with numerous white fasciae, which are bounded on
each side with an obscure line of dark brown; thighs rufous, crossed by numerous irregular white lines •
irides bright yellowish orange, surrounded by a yellowish lash ; inside of the mouth blue, except the centre
of the roof, which is black; gape and base of the bill olive-green, interspersed with hair-like feathers; tip
of the cere greenish yellow; base o f the mandibles pale blue ; culmen and tips black ; legs and feet yellow •
claws black.
The young differ considerably from the adult, having the feathers of the head and back o f the neck dark
brown, margined with rufous brown; the remainder o f the upper surface deep brown, each feather with a
crescent-shaped mark of rufous a t the extremity; tail brown, crossed with obscure bars o f a darker tint,
and tipped with whitish brown; inner webs o f the primaries fawn-colour, barred with dark brown; throat
buffy white, with a stripe of dark brown down the centre of each fea th e r; breast bufly white, each feather
crossed by two bands of dark brown, the last o f which assumes a triangular form ; abdomen and flanks bufly
white, crossed by irregular bands o f dark brown, which are blotched with rufous brown in the centre • thighs
and under tail-coverts pale rufous, crossed by similar ban d s; irides beautiful yellow; cere, base o f the bill
and gape bluish lead-colour ; point of the bill blackish brown; legs gamboge-yellow.
The Plate represents an adult male and female of the natural size.