ASTUR RADIATUS.Radiated Goshawk.
Falco radiatus, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. xii.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. vii. p. 177.
Radiated Falcon, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 53. pl. cxxi.—Ib. Gen. Hist., vol. i. p. 222. pl. xi.
Haliaëtus Calei, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 186.
The bird here represented I conceive to be the trueFalco radiatusof Latham; it is but little known to ornithologists, from the circumstance that few specimens only have been sent to Europe. It inhabits the dense brushes bordering the rivers Manning and Clarence on the eastern coast of New South Wales, and doubtless enjoys a much greater range than we are at present acquainted with. It is the largest of the Goshawks inhabiting Australia, far exceeding in size theAstur palumbariusof Europe. In some parts of its structure it differs considerably from the typical Asturs, particularly in the lengthened form of the middle toe, in which respect it resembles the true Accipiters; in its plumage it somewhat differs from both those forms, the markings of most of the feathers taking a longitudinal instead of a transverse direction; these differences may hereafter be considered of sufficient importance to warrant its separation into a distinct genus, but for the present I have retained it with the other Goshawks in that ofAstur. Of its habits and economy nothing whatever is known.
The male has the whole of the upper surface blackish brown, each feather broadly margined with rust-red; wings brown, crossed by narrow bands of darker brown; tail greyish brown, crossed by irregular bands of dark brown; shafts of the quills and tail buffy-brown; throat buff, deepening into the rich rust-red of the under surface of the shoulder and the whole of the under surface; all the feathers of the under surface with a narrow stripe of black down the centre; thighs and under tail-coverts rust-red without stripes.
The female resembles her mate in colour and in the disposition of the markings, but has the striæ of the under surface broader and more conspicuous.
The figures are those of a male and a female about two-thirds of the natural size.
ASTUR APPROXIMANSVig. & Horsf.J. Gould and H. C. Richter, deltC. Hullmandel Imp.
ASTUR APPROXIMANSVig. & Horsf.J. Gould and H. C. Richter, deltC. Hullmandel Imp.
ASTUR APPROXIMANSVig. & Horsf.J. Gould and H. C. Richter, deltC. Hullmandel Imp.