FALCON IDAE I 53 



more terrestrial, and chiefly frequents grassy plains ; it is moreover 

 less energetic, and has an easy and loitering though protracted flight, 

 with a custom of uttering its whistling or mournful notes in chorus, 

 the head beiny; thrown back as in the Carancho. The nest of 

 sticks, lined with grass, hair, and wool, may be on trees, in grass, or 

 rushes, Sencx preferring sea-girt clihs ; the eggs, from two to five in 

 number, are cream-coloured, or reddish with darker markings, and 

 vary as in Polyhorufi. Human beings are very rarely molested 

 by " Carrion Hawks," though birds seem to fear them greatly. 



Sub-fam. 3. Accipitrinae. — First of this group may be placed six 

 genera of " Harrier-Eagles," classed as Circaetinae by the late J. 

 H. (rurney,^ of which Herpetotheres caehimians, ranging from South 

 Mexico to Bolivia and Paraguay, is the only American represent- 

 ative. It is a crested bird, of a Ijrow^n colour above, relieved by 

 creamy buff, which extends over the whole under surface, the nape 

 and face being mostly l^lack. It eats snakes, and sits aloft bob- 

 bing its head while uttering a gruff "ha-ha." Of the African genus 

 Circaetus one species, C. (jaUicus — Jean-le-blanc of the French — 

 extends from Southern and Central Europe to Palestine, India, 

 North China, Timor, and Flores. It is dark brown alcove, and 

 white witli blackish-brown streaks and bars below, the secondaries 

 and tail having white tips, and the latter three dusky cross-bands. 

 This sluggish but l^old denizen of the plains may be seen perched 

 on trees, quartering the ground with heavy flapping flight, or 

 anon poising itself aloft on motionless wings, the harsh noisy cry 

 being varied by a twittering note. Snakes form its favourite 

 food, while frogs and fish from the shallows, small mannnals, birds, 

 lizards, crabs, and insects add to its daily fare. The bulky nest of 

 sticks, bedded with grass or green leaves, is situated on trees, bushes, 

 or even rocky ledges ; a single bluish-white egg — or exceptionally 

 two — being deposited. The female sits very closely, and botli 

 parents sometimes attack intruders. C. cinereus, of most of the 

 Etliiopian Region, has the chest brownish-black and the belly 

 white ; C. fasciolatus of Natal, and the similar C. heaudouini of 

 Senegal and Xorth-East Africa, liave the former part fulvous-brown, 

 and the latter barred with dusky ; C. cinerascens of the east and 

 west of that continent is much greyer below, with narrower bars. 

 Helotarsus ecaadatus of the wliole Ethiopian Eegion is black, with 

 maroon l^ack and tail, and a broad grey band across the second- 



1 .-/ list of the Diurnal Birds of Prey, 1884, p].. 14-18. 



