HAWKS. / .) 



{ Falcoiii lite) . The Carrion-Hawks or Caraearas are represented by the 

 tlircc American genera Polyhorus (835 & 836), Ihtjctcr (837 K- 838), 

 ami Mi/r&r/o (839), whieli differ from all the other subfamilies in having- 

 tlie inner as well as tlie outer toes united to the middle one by a web. 

 I'lie brightly coloured naked skin of the cheeks and throat gives them 

 a very ^'uUulille appearance, and their food consists hugely of carrion 

 .supplemented by birds, i-eptiles, and frogs, etc. They are more or less 

 terrestrial in their habits, their long legs enabling them to walk and run 

 with ease, and their partially webbed feet assist them in traversing 

 mai'shy ground in search of their food. They are more or less gregarious, 

 often hunting in families or small parties and roosting in companies. 



The first of the Long-legged Hawks (Acci/iifrincE) is the curious L^-'iise 46] 

 Handed Clymuogene (Poh/borohles ti//jiciis') (840-, from tropical Africa, 

 which feeds almost entirely on lizards and frogs. Xcxt come the 

 Harriers (C'ircHs), of which a good many dilYereiit sj)ceies are known 

 and easily recognised by their long slim form and the curious facial 

 ruft', which gives them a superficial resemblance to the Owls. Three 

 species, the Heu-Harrier (841 1, Montagu's Harrier (842), and i\larsh- 

 Harrier or Moor-Buzzard (844 , are found in Great Britain, but 

 owing to their well-known partiality for eggs and young birds their 

 number.s have been greatly diminished. All make their nest on the 

 ground and lay white eggs. Other allied genera represented are the 

 Harrier-Hawks (Micrasfur) (846 & 847) from 8. America, and tlu 

 Black Goshawk [Geranosphtus /i/i/eri (845). 



The Onc-banded Buzzard (I'drabnteo) (849) and the ("iianting Gos- [Case 17.j 

 hawk (MeUvrdx) (850) require no special remark, but the latter is 

 said to utter a mellow piping song. Of the true Goshawks (As/iir). 

 of which many species are known, attention may be drawn to the 

 remarkable white Australian species {A. nocw-liolluiidid') i851), the 

 Common Goshawk [A. palumburius) (857), wiiich still occasionally 

 occurs in the British Islands and is greatly valued in Falconry for the 

 pursuit of hares and rabbits, etc., and its North American representative 

 {A. atncapilhts) (853). A somewhat different Crested Goshawk will be 

 fotindin A.tiiviryatus (860). Closely allied to these, but distinguished 

 by the longer, more sleuder legs and feet and the very long middle toe, 

 the Sparrow-Hawks (Accljiiter) are represented by the common species Lt'ase4r.j 

 [A. nisiis) (866), a plentiful bird in the British Isles in spite of the 

 numbers that are annually destroyed by gamekeepers and others. It 

 is sometimes trained in this country to take Partridges, Quails, or 

 Blackbirds, and in India and .Japan is still prized Ijy falconers. The 

 smallest member of the genus is the Little Sparrow-Hawk [A. niinullus) 

 (865) from South Africa, and one of the largest is Cooper's (A. cooperi) 

 (862) from temperate North America. After the rare Radiated 



