2 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



The birds of prey — named Accipitres by some authors, and Ecqjtores or 

 Bapaces by others, and very appropriately designated as the ^tomorphm by 

 Professor Huxley — form one of the most strongly characterized and sharply 

 limited of the higher divisions of the Class of Birds. It is only recently, 

 however, that their place in a systematic classification and the proper num- 

 ber and relation of their subdivisions have been properly understood. Pro- 

 fessor Huxley's views will probably form the basis lor a permanent classifi- 

 cation, as they certainly point the way to one eminently natural. In his 

 important paper entitled " On the Classification of Birds, and on the Taxo- 

 nomic Value of the Modifications of certain Cranial Bones observable in 

 that Class," ^ this gentleman has dealt concisely upon the affinities of the 

 order Raptores, and the distinguishing features of its subdivisions. In the 

 following diagnoses the osteological characters are mainly borrowed from 

 Professor Huxley's work referred to. Nitzsch's " Pterylography " ^ supplies 

 such characters as are afforded by the plumage, most of which confirm the 

 arrangement based upon the osteological structure ; while important sugges- 

 tions have been derived from McGillivray's " History of British Birds." ^ 

 The Monographs of the Strigidce. and Fcdconidce, by Dr. J. J. Kaup,* contain 

 much valuable information, and were they not disfigured by a very eccentric 

 system of arrangement they would approach nearer to a natural classifica- 

 tion of the subfamilies, genera, and subgenera, than any arrangement of the 

 lesser groups which I have yet seen. 



The species of this group are spread over the whole world, tropical regions 

 having the greatest variety of forms and number of species. The Strigidoe 

 are cosmopolitan, most of the genera belonging to both continents. The 

 FalconidcB are also found the world over, but each continent has subfamilies 

 peculiar to it. The Catliartidm are peculiar to America, having analogous 

 representatives in the Old World in the subfamily Vidturinoe, belonging to 

 the Fcdconidce. The Gypogeranidcc are found only in South Africa, where a 

 single species, Gypiogeranus serpentarius (Gmel.), sole representative of the 

 family, is found. 



As regards the comparative number of species of this order in the two 

 continents, the Old World is considerably ahead of the New World, which 

 might be expected from its far greater land area. 581 species are given in 

 Gray's Hand List,^ of which certainly not more than 500, probably not more 



1 By Thomas H. Huxley, F. R. S., V. P. Z. S. ; Proceedings of the Zoological Society of Loii- 

 don, 1867, pp. 415-473. 



^ By Charles Ludwig Nitzsch. English edition, translated from the German by Dr. Philip 

 Lutley Sclater, and published by the Ray Society of London, 1867. 



3 By William McGillivray, A. M. ; London, 1840. 



* See Jardine's Contributions to Ornithology, London, 1849, p. 68 ; 18.^0, p. 51 ; 1851, p. 119 ; 

 1852, p. 10-3 ; and Transactions of the Zoological Society of London, 1862, p. 201. 



* Hand List of Genera and Species of Birds, distinguishing those contained in the Briti.sh 

 iluseum. By George Robert Gray, F. R. S., etc. Part L Accipitres, Fisserostres, Tenuirostres, 

 and Dentirostres. London, 1869. 



