_Astur sp._ Milne-Edwards, Ann. Sci. Nat. (5) XIX, Art. II, pp. 25, 26,
pl. 15 fig. 2. (1874).
_Astur alphonsi_ Newton and Gadow, Trans. Zool. Soc. XIII p. 285, pl.
XXXIII, figs. 9, 10. (1893).
Messrs. Newton and Gadow bestowed the name _Astur alphonsi_ on a pair of
tibiae, a pair of metatarsals, and the metacarpals of the left side of a
goshawk apparently of the same size and relative proportions as _A.
melanoleucus_ of South Africa. They justified their description of this
goshawk as a distinct species, first of all by the fact that most of the
Mascarene extinct species were distinct; and then because the bony ridge
for the _M. flexor digitorum communis_ was more strongly developed, the
fibula reached further down the tibia, the peroneal crest was straighter
and longer, and the cnemial crest slanted more gradually into the anterior
inner edge of the shaft of the tibia.
Milne-Edwards gives the measurements of the solitary tarso-metatarsus of
this bird which he had for examination as follows:--
Total length 80 mm.
Width at proximal extremity 11 "
Width at distal extremity 13 "
Width at smallest part of shaft 6 "
Messrs. Gadow and Newton give the length of their tarso-metatarsi as 81
mm., of their tibiae as 117 mm., and of the metacarpals as 55 mm.
Habitat: Mauritius.
Seven tarsi in the Tring Museum.
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