The figures are those of a male and a female about two-thirds of the natural size.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter, del^t_ _C. Hullmandel Imp._ ]
ASTUR APPROXIMANS, _Vig. and Horsf._ Australian Goshawk.
_Falco radiatus_, Temm. Pl. Col. 123, young.
_Astur radiatus_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 181, young male.
_Astur fasciatus_, Ib., adult male and female.
_Astur approximans_, Ib., young female.—Gould in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part III.
Among the whole perhaps of the Australian birds, certainly among the Australian _Falconidæ_ we are presented with no species the scientific appellation of which is involved in so much confusion as is that of 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 of the adult and young is so great as to have led to a false multiplication of species, and consequently of specific names. Seven specimens of this Hawk form part of 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 of these specimens, I am satisfied that they are all referable to the present bird; _A. radiatus_, of which there are two specimens, being the young male; _A. fasciatus_, of which there are three specimens, the adult; one an adult male, the other two adult females; and _A. approximans_, of which there are two specimens, the young female. I have retained the term _approximans_ in preference to either of the others, because _radiatus_ actually belongs to another species, and the employment of _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 synonyms quoted above, it might readily be supposed that this bird is very common, and such is in reality the case, for it is one of the most abundant and generally dispersed of the Hawks inhabiting New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land. It 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 habitat; and there it is a stationary resident.