FA L CONID.E — POL YBORIN.E : CAR A CA RA S. 



677 



Subfamily POLYBORIN/E: Caracaras. 



Anatomical characters of Falconitice proper, in the scapular arrangement by which a pro- 

 cess of coracoid reaches clavicle, central tubercle of extensively ossified nasal bones, anterior 

 keel of palate, and superurbital shield in a single piece ; external characters very unlike those 

 of i^rtZco«i>itf?, and general aspect vulturine. Bill toothless. Sternum single-notched on each 

 side behind. Three or more primaries sinuate-einarginate on inner webs; 3d or 4th longest; 

 1st shorter than 5th. A small but remarkable group, combining some of the essential charac- 

 ters of Falcons with others more Vulture-like; the species are chiefly terrestrial, rather slug- 

 gish, and feed much on carrion. Tlie genera are Fohjhorus, FhalcohcBnus, Senex, Milvago, 

 Ibi/cter, and Daptrius, all confined to America. 



POLY'BOKUS. (Gr. rroXv^opos, polyhuros, very voracious. Fig. 4G5.) Cauacaras. 

 QuKLELis. Bill long, high, much compressed, little hooked, commissure nearly straight to 

 deflected end ; cere miv ', ij. 

 ending anteriorly in 

 a nearly straight 

 vertical line ; nostril 

 high in front upper 

 corner of cere, lin- 

 ear, obli(|ue, its pos- 

 terior end upper- 

 most, its tubercle 

 concealed. Chin and 

 sides of head bristly, 

 extensively denuded ; 

 a naked pectoral 

 area; an occijjital 

 crest. Tibia; shortly 

 flagged. Tarsus 

 nearly twice as long 

 as middle toe with- 

 out claw almost en- Fio. 465. — The Caracara, i nat. size. (Krom Brehm.) 



tirely naked, chiefly reticulate, but in front broadly scutellate in single or doul)le row; lateral 

 toes of about equal lengths; hind toe much the sliortest; claws long and little curved. Wings 

 very hnig, with .'3d and 4tb (piills longest, 2d and 5th next, 1st shorter than Gth or 7th ; outer 

 4 or 5 emarginate. Tail rounded, about § as long as wing. Comprising three species of large 

 Vulture-like carrion Hawks, of terrestrial lialdts, and ambulatorial, not saltatorial, gait, of tlie 

 warmer ])arts of America. 



P. che'riway. (Probably tlie South American native name.) Audubon's Caracara. 

 Adult ^ 9- General color blackish, throat, neck all around, and more or less of fore back and 

 breast whitish, spotted, and chiefly barred with blackish ; upjierand under tail-coverts and most 

 of tail white, the hitter very numerously barred with blackish, of which color is the broad ter- 

 minal zone ; shafts white alontr white portion of each feather. Basal portion of jirimaries like- 

 wise barred with whitish. Bill variously pale colored ; cere carmine ; iris lirowii ; feet yellow ; 

 daws black; soft ])arts drying to a dingy indefinable color. Yoinii; similar, but rather brown- 

 ish ; markings of body in lengthwise streaks, not cross-bars; tail, however, barred. Len^'th 

 (cither sex) 21.00-125.00; extent about 48.00; winir I4..")0-I(i.50; tail H.(M)-IO.(H) ; tarsus 

 about ;}.()(); middle toe without claw 2.00; ciilmen l.."{5. I desi-ribe the North American bird, 

 which is much less extcnsiv<'ly barnd than that of South America. (See Cassin, Pr. IMiilu. 

 .\cad. IHr)5. ]>. 2 ) The difl'erence in several sjx-cimens handled is striking, nearly the whole 



