32 FALCONIN.E. 



ring-plover, or the purre. These birds have the toes 

 comparatively short, their lower surfaces flat, the hind 

 toe either elevated and small, or wanting, and the claws 

 very small and blunt. In the falconine birds, on the 

 contrary, the toes, although not always long, have their 

 lower surface knobbed or padded, the hind toe is large 

 and on the same plane, and the claws are long, curved, 

 and sharp. The consequence is, that some of them can- 

 not walk at all, as Mr Audubon informs me is the case 

 with the osprey; others, as the eagles, walk so ill, that 

 when they require to move to short distances on the 

 ground, they prefer leaping, and use their wings to aid 

 them, and even the lighter species rather hobble than 

 walk. On trees, on the contrary, they perch with 

 great security ; and such is their grasp, and the tenden- 

 cy of their claws to contract or curve downwards, that, 

 when shot, they sometimes cling to the branch. When 

 standing on plain ground, they retract their claws, so 

 that the sharp points are not liable to be injured. 



The diflFerent species are averse to others of the same 

 family, and even individuals of the same species are 

 seldom seen together. None are gregarious even in 

 the slightest degree. They live solitarily, or in pairs, 

 like the animals of the feline family, to which they are 

 analogous. Their cries are sharp and loud, but are 

 seldom heard excepting during the breeding season, 

 which commences about the middle of spring. Their 

 nest is rude and flat, generally composed of twigs, dry 

 grass, and some soft materials. The eggs vary from 

 two to five, are generally broadly elliptical, but some- 

 times regularly ovate, and vary in colour, some species 

 having them pure white, others dotted, spotted, or 



