INTRODUCTION. XXlll 



hooked at the tip ; under mandible blunt, and shorter than the upper. 

 Nostrils near the middle of the beak, elongated, longitudinal. Head and 

 neck partly bare of feathers. Wings rather pointed, the third quill the 

 longest. Tail of fourteen feathers. Tarsus reticulated ; three toes before, 

 one behind ; anterior toes united at the Ijase (p. 313). 



Family FALCONID.i:, 



Circus, Lac^pMe. — Bill small, bending from the base, compressed and elevated ; 

 cutting-edges of the upper mandible with a slight festoon. Cere large. 

 Nostrils oval, partly concealed by the hairs radiating from the lores. Lower 

 part of the head surrounded by a ruff of small thick-set feathers. Wings 

 long ; the first quill very short, the third and fourth the longest. Tail long. 

 Tarsus long, slender, and naked ; toes rather short, and not very unequal ; 

 claws slightly curved, and very sharp (p. 315). 



BuTEO, Lacdpede. — Bill rather small and weak, bending from the base, part of 

 the cutting edges of the upper mandible slightly projecting ; cere large ; 

 nostrils oval. Wings with the first quill short, about equal in length to the 

 seventh, the fourth the longest ; the first four feathers with the inner edge 

 deeply notched. Tarsus short, strong, usually scaled, but occasionally 

 feathered and reticulated ; toes short, claws strong (p. 321). 



Aquila, Bi'isson. — Bill strong, of moderate length, curved from the cere, 

 pointed, the cutting edges nearly straight. Nostrils oval, lateral, directed 

 obliquely downward and backward, or sometimes circular. Wings large and 

 long, the fourth quill the longest. Tarsus feathered to the junction of the 

 toes, hind surface reticulated ; toes strong, the last phalanx of each toe 

 covered by large scales ; claws hooked (p. 325). 



Haliaetus, Savigny. — Bill elongated, strong, straight at the base, curving in a 

 regular arc in advance of the cere to the tip and forming a deep hook, upper 

 ridge broad and rather flattened. Nostrils oval, perpendicular. Wings 

 ample, the fourth quill the longest. Tarsus feathered to the joint ; the front 

 of the naked part scutellated, and the sides and back reticulated. Toes 

 divided to their origin ; claws strong and hooked, grooved beneath ; the claw 

 of the hind toe larger than that of the inner, which again exceeds either 

 of the others (p. 329). 



AsTUR, Lact'pede. — Bill short, bending from the base ; cutting edge of the upper 

 mandible forming a festoon. Nostrils oval. Wings short, reaching only to 

 the middle of the tail-feathers, the fourth quill the longest. Tarsus stout, 

 covered in front with broad scales. Toes moderate : the middle toe some- 

 what the longest, the lateral toes nearly equal, but the inner claws consider- 

 ably larger than the outer claw (p. 331). 



ACCIPITER, Brissoii. — Bill bending from the base, short, compressed, superior 

 ridge rounded and narrow, cutting margin of the upper mandible with a 

 distinct festoon. Nostrils oval. Wings short ; the fourth and fifth quill- 

 feathers nearly equal in length, and the longest. Tarsus long, slender, and 

 smooth. Toes long and slender, particularly the middle toe ; clav/s curved 

 and sharp (p. 333). 



MiLVUS, Ladpcde. — Bill straight at the base, curved from the cere to the point, 

 cutting margin with a slight festoon. Nostrils oval, oblique. Wings long, 

 the third or fourth quill the longest. Tail long and forked. Tarsus short. 



