9 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



The birds of ])iey — named Accipitres by some authors, and Raptores or 

 Rapuccs by others, and very appropriately designated as the ^■Etoinorphcc by 

 Professor Huxley — I'orm one of the most strongly characterized and sharply 

 limited of the higher divisions of the Class of Birds. It is only recently, 

 however, that their place in a systematic classification and the projier num- 

 ber and relation of their subdivisions liave been properly understood. Pro- 

 fessor Ilu.xluy's views will probably form the basis for a periiianent classifi- 

 cation, as they certainly point tlie way to one eminently naluval. In his 

 important jiaper entitled "On the Classification of liirds, and on the Ta.xo- 

 numic \'alue of tlie Modifications of certain Cranial Pones observable in 

 tliat Class," ' tins gentleman lias dealt concisely upon tlie aflinities of the 

 order Ttaptores, and tlie distingnisliiug features of its subdivisions. In tlie 

 following diagnoses the ostcological cliaracters are mainly borrowed from 

 Professor Huxley's work referred to. Nitzsch's " Pterylography " ^ supplies 

 such characters as are afforded by the plumage, most of whicli confirm the 

 arrangement based upon tlie osteological structure ; while important sugges- 

 tions have been derived from McGillivray's "History of Britisli Birds."' 

 The [Monograplis of the Strigidw and Falconidw, by Dr. -I. .T. Kaup,'' contain 

 much valuable information, and were tliey not disfigured by a \'ery eccentric 

 system of arrangement they would apjiroacli nearer to a natural classifica- 

 tion of tlie subfamilies, genera, and suligenera, than any arrangement of the 

 lesser groups wliich I have yet seen. 



The species of this group are spread over the whole world, tropical regions 

 having the greatest variety of forms and number of species. The Strir/idcc 

 are cosmopolitan, most of the genera belonging to both continents. Tlie 

 F(dconi(1m-A\e, also found t!ie world over, but each continent has subfamilies 

 peculiar to it. The C'athartidce are peculiar to America, having analogous 

 representatives in the Old World in the subfamily Vid/urincv belonging to 

 the Fulconida: The G ijpogevanidw are found only in South Africa, M'liere a 

 single species, Gypogcranus serpentariv.s (Gmel.), sole representative of the 

 family, is found. 



As regards tlie comparative numlier of species of this order in the two 

 continents, tiie Old World is considerably ahead of the New World, which 

 might be expected froiii its far greater land area. 581 species are given in 

 Gray's Hand List,^ of which certainly not more tlian .10(1, proliably not more 



• By Thomas H. Huxley, F. R. S., V. P. Z. S. ; Proceeding.s of tlic Zoblogical Society of Lou- 

 don, 1867, pp. J15-473. 



^ By C'liailes Ludwig Nitzsch. English edition, translated from the German liy Dr. Pliilip 

 Lutley Sulater, and published by the Ray Society of London, 1867. 



' By William JIoGillivray, A. M. ; ],ondon, 1840. 



' See Jardine's Contributions to Ornithology, London, 1849, p. 68 ; 18.50, p. .'il ; 18.51, p. 110 ; 

 1852, p. 103 ; and Transactions of the Zoological Society of London, 1862, p. 201. 



' Hand List of Genem and Sjieeies of Birds, distinguishing those contained in the British 

 JIuseum. By George Robert Gray, F. E. S., etc. Part I. Accipitres, Finserostrcs, Tenuiroslrcs, 

 and Dentiroslrcs. London, 1869. 



