FALCONIDAE 1 6/ 



crosses the rectrices, of which the co^'erts are black and white. 



A. nitida, reaching from Panaina to south-east Brazil, differs in 

 having white bars above. Riqwrnis magnirostris of Colombia, 

 Guiana, and Amazonia — liardly separable from Ashirina — has 

 three black belts on the tail and is rufous instead of grey beneath ; 

 E. ruficauda of Central America, R. "puchermii of Brazil, 

 Paraguay, and Argentina, and its Bolivian race R. safvrata, 

 have the chestnut remiges and ruf(jus rectrices crossed with 

 blackish, and the under surface as in the first-named, but the 

 second is browner and shows a creamy patch on the prim- 

 aries ; R. nattereri, of Peru and Brazil, combines the chestnut 

 primaries with an ashy and black tail ; R. ridgwayi, of Haiti, 

 is chiefly rufous and brown above, and slate-coloured with white 

 l)ands Ijelow. R. iJitcherani is very noisy and eats fish. 



Batastiir tersa (with its sub-species indicv.s) ranges from 

 Japan and China to New Cuinea and India ; it is reddish- 

 brown, varied with white on the" nape and rump, the tail and 

 lower parts being rufous, with black and white bars respectively. 



B. liventer, found from Burma to Celebes, is ashy below ; B. 

 rvfipennis of North -East Africa, has streaks in place of bars. 

 The pugnacious Indian form has a mewing cry, feeds upon small 

 mammals, lizards, frogs, and crabs, and Ijuilds its nest almost 

 entirely of twigs, laying some three bluish-white eggs. Gera- 

 ■noaetus melanoleucus of western and southern South America, 

 the so-called Chilian " Sea-Eagle," is black with grey wings and 

 white belly, both barred with dusky ; the flight is vulturine with 

 spiral gyrations, the note is piercing ; the food consists of carrion 

 from the beach, small mammals, birds, and grasshoppers. The 

 nest, placed in a tree or crag, is composed of sticks and grass, the 

 two white eggs being blotched with pale red. It is often seen 

 inland. 



Leucajpternis is a genus of eleven members, of which L. 

 ghiesbregJiti, of Central America, is snowy-white, with most of 

 the wings and a zone on the tail black. The other forms, whereof 

 three inhabit Brazil, are black or slate-coloured aljove with 

 white markings, the lower surface being grey in L. 2)lumhea of 

 Ecuador and l*anama and L. schistacea of Colombia and 

 Amazonia, but barred with black and white in Z. princeps, of 

 Costa Rica. Uruhitinga zonura, a l)lack bird with white tip 

 and base to the tail, ranges from Mexico to Chili and Argentina ; 



