The variations of plumage exhibited by the Goshawk are numerous. I have seen some with horizontal bars, of a large size on the breast, and blotches of white on the back and shoulders, while others had the first of these parts covered with delicate transverse lines, the shaft of each feather being deep brown or black, and were of a plain cinereous tint above. The young, which at first have but few scattered dashes of brown beneath, are at times thickly mottled with that, and each feather of the back and wings is broadly edged with dull white.
My opinion respecting the identity of the American Goshawk and that of Europe, is still precisely the same as it was four years ago, when I wrote a paper on the subject, which was published in the Edinburgh Journal of Natural and Geographical Science. I regret differing on this point from such accomplished ornithologists as my excellent friend Prince CHARLES BONAPARTE and M. TEMMINCK; but, after due consideration, I cannot help thinking these birds the same.
The figure of the adult was drawn at Henderson, in Kentucky, many years ago. That of the young bird was taken from a specimen shot in the Great Pine Forest in Pennsylvania.
FALCO PALUMBARIUS, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 130.—_Lath._ Ind. Ornith. vol. i. p. 29.—_Ch. Bonaparte_, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 28.
ACCIPITER (ASTUR) PALUMBARIUS, _Swains. and Richards._ Fauna Bor.-Americ. part ii. p. 39.
ASH-COLOURED OR BLACK-CAPPED HAWK, FALCO ATRICAPILLUS, _Wils._ Amer. Ornith. vol. vi. p. 80. pl. 5. Fig. 3.—AMERICAN GOSHAWK, _Nuttall_, Manual, part i. p. 85.
Bill short, nearly as deep as broad at the base, the tip trigonal, very acute and decurved; upper mandible with the dorsal outline convex from the base, the ridge rounded, the sides convex, the edges acute, overlapping, and slightly festooned; lower mandible a little deflected towards the tip, which is broadly rounded. Head large, neck short, body robust. Legs longish, the tibia long, the tarsus rounded, anteriorly scutellate, scaly on the sides, tubercular and scabrous beneath; the fore-toes with a slight web at the base; claws roundish, curved, extremely acute, that of the inner toe as large as the claw of the hind one.