ACCIPITRES. 237 



destitute of feathers. They have received the common name of 



Caracara.(I) 



F. braziliensis, Gm. ; Polyborus vulgaris, Vieillot, Galer. pi. 

 7; the young, Spix, I. Large as an Ospreyj striped trans- 

 versely, with white and black; feathers long and slender, and 

 white on the throat ; a black calotte slightly elongated into a 

 crest ; the wing covers, thighs, and tip of the tail, blackish. 

 The most common bird of prey in Paraguay and Brazil.(2) 



F. aqidlinus, Gm.;Enl. 417; Ibycter leuco-gaster, Vieillot, Ga- 

 ler. 6. Black ; the abdomen and inferior coverts of the tail 

 white; throat, naked and red. The 



Harpyia, Cuv.(3) 



Or Fisher-Eagles with short wings, are also American Eagles, 

 whose tarsi are very thick, strong, reticulated, and half covered 

 with feathers like those of the true Fisher Eagles, from which they 

 only differ in the shortness of their wings ; their beak and claws are 

 even stronger than those of any other tribe. 



The Great Harpy of America; Aigle destructeur of Daudin; 

 Grand Mgle de la Guiane of Mauduit, and probably the Falco 

 harpyia and the F. cristatus, Lin. j F. Harpyia and imperialis, Sh. 

 Col. 14.(4) Of all birds, this possesses the most terrific beak and 

 claws ; it is superior in size to the common eagle ; the plumage 

 is ash coloured on the head and neck ; the mantle and the sides 

 of the breast, a blackish brown j whitish above, and striped with 

 brown on the thighs : it has a black tuft on the back of the head, 

 formed of long feathers, and when it erects them and removes 

 those on the cheeks, its physiognomy greatly resembles that of 

 the Strix ulula, Gm. Its external toe is also very frequently di- 

 rected backwards, like the thumb. Such are its powers, that 



(1) Azzara, Voy, iii, p. 30, et seq. 



(2) It is the true Caracara of Marcgrave, though it could never be recog-nized 

 from the description. A better one may be found in Azzara. Our own is taken 

 from nature. The F. cheriway, Jacq. Beyt. p. 15, No. 11, may easily be a variety 

 from age. Add the Black Caracara, Tern. {F. aterrimus, T.) Col. S7 and 342, or 

 Daptrius ater, Weill. Gal. pl.v; Gymnops fasciatus, Sp'ix, IV. His Gymnops strigi- 

 latus is the young- of the same. 



N. B. It is from my Caracaras that Vieillot has made his genera Daptrius, Ibyc- 

 teh, and Poi.yborus, according to the greater or less extent of the bare spot on 

 the head. 



(3) Vieillot has adopted this genus and name. 



(4) It is most certainly the Yzquautzli of Fernandez; but that author greatly ex- 

 aggerates its size in comparing it to a sheep. It is also the V. cristatus of Jacq., 

 and consequently the Falc. Jacquini of Gmelln. 



