328 FAJjOONIDiE. 



Lammergeyer), which is intei'mediate in characters between the 

 Vultures and Eagles, is here assigned to the neighbourhood of the 

 latter. 



Throughout the family there are 12 tail-feathers and 14 cervical 

 vertebrae. Nearly all are carnivorous, a few of the smaller species 

 being insectivorous partly or wholly, and the majority capture 

 living prey. The hair and feathers of the prey, if not removed 

 before eating, are cast up, with the bones, in the form of pellets. 

 As a rule, birds of this family are solitary, and all are monogamous. 



Scarcely any two authors agree as to the division of the 

 Falconidae into subfamilies. Sharpe in the ' Catalogue ' admits 

 five : Polijbo7'ince, Accipitrince, Buteoninoi, Aqidlincp, and Falconince ; 

 but the result is unsatisfactory and artificial. Blyth and Gumey 

 employed far more di\dsions; the former ('Ibis,' 1863) arranged 

 these birds in 10 subfamilies, the latter in his last work (' A List 

 of the Diurnal Birds of Prey') in no less than 11. If the Fal- 

 conidae are to be arranged in natural subfamilies at all, this number 

 must, I believe, be increased rather than diminished ; and as I can 

 find no satisfactory system, I think it best to leave the family 

 undivided with the exception of the Lammergeyer, which appears 

 entitled to rank as a subfamily apart. 



a. Claws blunt ; bill lengthened ; a tuft of 



long bristles on the chin Gypaetinoe, p. 328. 



h. Claws sharp ; bill not lengthened ; no 



bristles on chin Falconince, p. 330. 



Subfamily GYPAETINtE. 



Genus GYPAETUS, Storr, 1784. 



Bill moderately high, compressed, much hooked at end, culmen 

 curved throughout ; nostrils oval, longitudinal, concealed by long 

 bristles directed forwards from the lores and cere, another tuft 

 of long bristles descending perpendicularly from the chin ; tarsi 

 feathered ; feet stout ; claws of moderate size, well curved, blunt ; 

 wings long, very pointed, 3rd quill longest ; tail of 12 feathers, 

 long, wedge-shaped, very pointed. 



This genus inhabits mountainous regions in Southern Europe, 

 Central Asia, and Africa. One species is found in the Himalayas, 

 the Punjab, and Sind. 



119 c <ypaetus barbatus. The Bearded Vulture 

 or Lammergeyer. 



Vultur bitrbatus, Liyin. Si/st. Nat. i, p. 123 (1766). 



Gypaetus barbatus, Storr, AJpenreise, p. 69 ; Hutton, J. A. S. B, 



iii, p. 522 ; Kodcfson, J. A. S. B. iv, p. 454 ; Blyth, Cat. p. 33 ; 



Horsf. 8f M. Cat. i, p. 9 ; Jerdon, B. I. i, p. 13 ; id. Ibis, 1871, 



