Tom Foote wrote:

" In a discussion about early Puget Sound ecology, I made a statement based
on information I had picked up somewhere about the numbers of goshawks
that used to be down here at the water's edge. It seems to me, that given
the habitat loss and encroachment of urban sprawl, coupled with the
removal of most of the big timber, that it's not much of a stretch to say
there were many more goshawks in South Puget Sound 100 years ago than
there are today. I can't, however, point to any speicifc writings in
early Natural History of the area to back up my statement.

I'd appreciate any citations for any books, articles, whatever, that
anyone on the List might know about that would shed light on my dilemma -
i.e., establishing that the number goshawks has, in fact, decreased here
on the flat at the water's edge."

Tom,

Lacking any better ideas, I checked in Jewett et al. to see what they referenced for the
Western Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis laingi). They noted distribution "North to Semiahmoo
(Kennerly) and Bellingham (Edson, 1908:433); east to Cascades (probably); south to Fort
Steilacoom; west to Shoalwater Bay (Cassin, in Baird, 1858: 16), Olympic Mts.
(Hume, Bailey), and Cosmopolis (Rathbun). Rathbun reports that the testes
of an adult male taken near Cosmopolis, June 8, 1921, showed it to be a breeding bird."

Rathbun and Bailey were prolific authors in the early days, Hume wrote a biography of
Ornithologists in the Army Medical Corps, and Jewett didn't give any particulars on any of these
'citations'. I am not familiar with Kennerly.

A.C. Bent notes records for the Western Goshawk (A.g. striatulus) only in the "boreal zones"
at Ft. Lapwai, Idaho, the Blue Mtns. of Oregon, and the high Sierras of Eldorado County, Calif.

The cited literature is:

Baird, S.F. 1858. Reports of explorations and surveys for a railroad route to the Pacific Ocean.
Vol. 9 (Part 2): i-lvi, 1005 pp.

Edson, J.M. Birds of the Bellingham Bay region. Auk 25: 425-439.

Hope this helps. Old copies of the Auk might be available through the Inter-Library loan via
the Evergreen State Univ. Library. I would be surprised if they carry a copy of Baird's
report.... might have to go to the Big City University Library to find a copy.

Jon. Anderson
Olympia, Washington
festuca at olywa.net